§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department which of the Land Registry offices his latest accommodation review has revealed as surplus to current requirements; and what action he now proposes to take with regard to them. [62895]
§ Mr. HoonThe Land Registry's latest accommodation review has revealed that a sub-office (1,269 sq m) of the Gloucester District Land Registry is surplus to current208W requirements. The Land Registry is actively marketing the sale of the lease. Since 1990, the Land Registry has reduced its estate by some 43,000 sq m of accommodation, covering 34 sites.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department which Land Registry offices in the North West have sufficient spare capacity in terms of space or people to enable them to take on the work currently conducted by the Lytham Land Registry. [62896]
§ Mr. HoonThere are no Land Registry offices in the North-West which have sufficient spare capacity in terms of space or people to enable them to take on the work currently conducted by the Lytham Land Registry.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department what analysis his Department or the Land Registry has undertaken on the future of the Land Registry office in Lytham. [62897]
§ Mr. HoonAn analysis by the Land Registry on the future of its office in Lytham has concluded that registration activity is projected to increase by up to 20 per cent. over the next five years following recent land registration legislation. Existing accommodation, which is operating at fully capacity, will therefore soon be insufficient to carry out its business.
The Land Registry intends to redevelop its nearby Warton site to house the registration work generated by the County of Lancashire. The existing Lytham building will cater for work generated by Greater Manchester.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the operational future of the Land Registry office in Lytham(a) in the next 12 months, (b) in the next three years and (c) in the next five years. [62898]
§ Mr. HoonIn the next 12 months the Land Registry will begin to operate from its Lytham office as the Lytham District Land Registry (dealing with registrations from Greater Manchester) and the Lancashire District Land Registry (dealing with registration from Lancashire)—the latter moving to the new accommodation at nearby Warton on its completion. Over the next five years the two business units will be taking forward partnerships with local authorities to register all of their landholdings. This will bring considerable security and efficiency benefits to local authorities and to the local taxpayer.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department if he is currently acting on a request from the Treasury to review the property portfolio of office accommodation currently used by the Land Registry. [62899]
§ Mr. HoonA review of the property portfolio of office accommodation used by the Land Registry was carried out as part of the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review. The review identified some 13,000 sq m of accommodation as surplus to requirements and this has now been disposed of.
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the cost of operation per employee of each of the Land Registry offices. [62900]
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§ Mr. HoonExcluding one-off costs, the costs of operation per employee in 1997–98 of each of the Land Registry's offices were as follows:
Offices £ Birkenhead 21,814 Coventry 22,047 Croydon 27,358 Durham 20,372 Gloucester 23,968 Harrow 27,508 Hull 23,274 Leicester 22,008 Lytham 22,526 Nottingham 21,132 Peterborough 26,199 Plymouth 24,019 Portsmouth 26,056 Stevenage 23,487 Swansea 22,466 Telford 23,548 Tunbridge Wells 22,583 Weymouth 22,664 York 26,957
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department when he last assessed the office accommodation requirements for the Land Registry; and if he will make a statement. [62901]
§ Mr. HoonThe office accommodation requirements for the Land Registry were last assessed as part of its business planning cycle and are shown in the Land Registry's Corporate Plan 1998–2003 and its published Business Plan 1998–99. Both Plans were approved by the Lord Chancellor.