§ Mrs. Bridget PrenticeTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 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. [27735]
§ Mrs. Angela KnightThe properties occupied by the Inland Revenue, HM Customs and Excise and the Office for National Statistics—formerly central statistical office-Paymaster, Valuation Office and the Royal Mint formed part of the Government common user office estate which, prior to 1 April 1996, was managed by Property Holdings. From that date Departments took over responsibility from Property Holdings when they became fully accountable for their own accommodation. Information relating to vacant CUE space for the years in question was given by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Environment on 30 January, Official Report, columns 648–49.
Not all the information requested on occupation and cost of office space is available. However, for those Departments and agencies in respect of which information is held, the total square footage and cost of office space rented for the five years in question were:
288W
Year Square feet Cost £ 1991–921 41,368 557,296 1992–93 2,678,800 28,365,826 1993–94 2,602,795 29,394,490 1994–95 2,577,414 27,940,773 1995–96 2,520,690 27,497,485 1 Excluding Customs and Excise