§ Mrs. Bridget PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland 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. [27722]
§ Mr.Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 9 May 1996]: Most of the leased office space occupied by the Scottish Office during the past five financial years formed part of the common user estate which was the responsibility of the Department of the Environment. My right hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Office of Public Service has provided details of rents and vacant space on the common user estate which were held centrally.
Details of payments made to Property Holdings by the Scottish Office in respect of common user estate accommodation, are shown in table 1. Information regarding offices leased directly by the Scottish Office and its agencies is given in table 2. In both cases, figures 436W are readily available only for the last three years and information regarding vacant space during that time could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
Table 1: Scottish Office Common User Estate Offices Year Total number of buildings Rental cost (excl. VAT) Total leased floor area (ft2) 1995–96 28 4,166,366 423,769 1994–95 33 3,916,859 484,652 1993–94 34 4,878,211 511,578
Table 2: Scottish Office (and Agencies) Offices Year Total number of buildings Rental cost (excluding VAT) Total leased floor area (ft2) 1995–96 15 182,481 23,697 1994–95 15 173,761 22,434 1993–94 16 180,656 70,547