§ Mrs. Bridget PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the square footage and cost of office space rented by his Department and its agencies and the number of his Department or agencies' buildings partly, or fully unoccupied together with the square footage of that unoccupied office space and its estimated rental value where available in each of the past five financial years. [27726]
§ Mr. HowardThe Home Office assumed accountability for all the offices in which it had occupations, including any vacant space therein from 1 April 1996. Prior to this date, the whole of the Government common user (office) estate—CUE—in which Government Departments were housed was owned by Property Holdings. The part of the question requesting figures for the last five financial years is, therefore, a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment.
As at 1 April 1996, the Home Office had no totally unoccupied office buildings, and only 10 with some vacant space. This vacant space amounted to 92,429 sq ft which comprised less than 1 per cent. of the total Home Office non-prison estate. The estimated annual rental cost of this vacant space is £205,000.