§ Mrs. Bridget PrenticeTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's 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 141W unoccupied office space and its estimated rental value where available in each of the past five financial years. [27725]
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansThe information shows the area and rental cost of the LCD estate for the period requested. The figures available are shown in square metres rather than square feet and represent the agents lettable area of the building rather than the whole building.
Square metres £ 1991–92 616,790 64,314,423 1992–93 632,181 69,451,866 1993–94 663,871 77,575,962 1994–95 668,295 79,268,717 1995–96 629,087 69,324,056 1996–97 45,948 9,184,904 The LCD Estate includes the Public Trust Office and the Court Service estate, with the exception of the figures for 1996–97 which exclude accommodation covered by the Court Service following agency status. The chief executive of the Court Service will respond separately in respect of that period. The chief executives of Her Majesty's Land Registry and the Public Record Office will also reply separately.
The estate occupied by the Lord Chancellor's Department and its agencies has many types of building: offices, courts, residential properties, storage facilities and offices converted into courtrooms. The majority of the buildings have a combination of uses and our records, prior to the current year, do not distinguish between the different types. For the current year, the LCD HQ estate has a total of 1,783 sq m of vacant office space, which is encompassed in an overall review of office space currently being undertaken. The vacant space has an approximate rental value of £286,275.
Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mrs. Bridget Prentice, dated 8 May 1996:
The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department has asked me to reply to your Question about rented office space on the Court Service estate. As you know, the Court Service was established as an Executive Agency of the Lord Chancellor's Department in April 1995 and it is, therefore, only possible to supply figures from that date.The approximate area of the Court Service estate is 6,771,430 square feet. This figure represents the entire agency estate and includes courtrooms, office accommodation, judges' lodgings, storage space etc. It would only be possible to obtain the percentage of office space in this figure at disproportionate cost. The rental value of the estate for the financial year 1995/96 was approximately £69,342,056. This figure includes actual rent paid on leasehold properties and nominal rent paid on freehold properties held on the Common User Estate. As both types of rent were paid to the Department of the Environment it is not possible to identify what amount relates solely to leasehold properties.The Court Service does not keep comprehensive financial records for empty office space on the estate and the information required could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.Letter from John Manthorpe to Mrs. Bridget Prentice, dated 8 May 1996:
I have been asked by the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, to reply to your recent question on rented office space.142WThe square footage of office space rented by H M Land Registry at 31 March 1996 was 770,649 sq. ft at a cost of £4,646,813. The details of square footage and cost of unoccupied leasehold office space over the past five financial years is as follows:
Year Space—sq. ft Rent £ Number of buildings 1991–92 — — — 1992–93 11,480 127,634 Part only of one building 1993–94 19,002 204,587 Parts only of two buildings 1994–95 19,002 221,729 Parts only of two buildings 1995–96 32,657 305,559 One entire building and parts only of two buildings Surplus accommodation has arisen in the Land Registry following reductions in its staff of some 3,400 from the 1989–90 peak. Disposals of 297,105 square feet of rented accommodation have taken place since 1989 and further major disposals are being negotiated.
Letter from Duncan Simpson to Mrs. Bridget Prentice, dated 8 May 1996:
In the absence of the Chief Executive, who is away from the Office on official business, I have been asked by the Lord Chancellor's Parliamentary Secretary to reply for the Public Record Office to your question about rented and unoccupied office space.The Public Record Office rented no office space in the commercial property market in the past five financial years.The Public Record Office's buildings form part of the Common User Estate and are primarily devoted to storing the public records. Office space within them over the past five financial years was about 177,540 square feet. The rental for office space, paid through the Property Repayment Service System, was:
- 1991–92: £1,170,880
- 1992–93: £1,424,896
- 1993–94: £1,403,981
- 1994–95: £1,305,736
- 1995–96: £1,274,621.
None of the Office's buildings has been partly or fully unoccupied over the past five financial years.