HC Deb 05 March 1998 vol 307 cc762-3W
Mr. Malcolm Bruce

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is his estimate of the cost of buildings refurbishment carried out by his Department in(a) 1995–96, (b) 1996–97, (c) 1997–98 to date and (d) 1997–98 full year; and if he will make a statement. [26583]

Mr. Kilfoyle

[holding answer 5 February 1998]: For this purpose the Cabinet Office includes the Prime Minister's Office and the Office of Public Service and its executive agencies. The figures requested are:

£
Year Cabinet Office OPS Agencies COI
1995–96 £2,545,100 67,600 0
1996–97 2,693,500 408,255 0
1997–98 to date 1,740,000 11,432,220 n/a
1997–98 full year 2,140,000 14,578,910 600,000

On 1 April 1996 PACE was created as an Executive Agency of the Office of Public Service. PACE inherited all the then wholly vacant office buildings across government on the Civil Estate, much of it in poor condition.

PACE is charged with the disposal of this vacant estate. Many properties are leasehold buildings and have a negative value. PACE has to spend such sums as are required to attract the interest of the market to obtain the best overall outcome for the Exchequer. This is reflected in the figures shown.

£
1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 to date 1997–98 full year
Annual cost
Cabinet Office 0 0 0 0
Cabinet Office/OPS agencies 0 97,700,000 52,400,000 79,000,000
COI 0 0 0 0
Other public bodies 0 0 0 0
Total value1
Cabinet Office 0 0 0 0
Cabinet Office/OPS agencies
(i) Freehold n/a 80,200,000 67,600,000 n/a
(ii)Leasehol 60,000 –486,000,000 2–433,300,000 n/a
COI 0 0 0 0
Other public bodies 0 0 0 0
1 Valuations are carried out in March each year. Estimates for 1997/98 are not yet available. A number of leasehold properties have a negative asset value. This is reflected in the above figures.
2 Figure given for 31 March 1997.