HC Deb 07 December 1999 vol 340 cc494-5W
Mr. Field

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will place a copy of the PRIME contract in the Library. [101841]

Angela Eagle

The PRIME contract contains not only technical data but also information of a commercially confidential nature. It is therefore subject to a confidentiality agreement between the Department and the contractor, Trillium. The Department will, however, take the matter forward with Trillium, with a view to obtaining an acceptable solution to the publication or disclosure of the document.

Mr. Field

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if the PRIME contract with Trillium allows his Department to sub-let immediately surplus parts of the estate above the 2 per cent. per year which his Department is allowed to vacate without charge; [101842]

(2) if the PRIME contract with Trillium allows his Department to sub-let surplus parts of the estate above the 35 per cent. which his Department may vacate without charge. [101843]

Angela Eagle

Now that the Department no longer owns any freehold accommodation, and has transferred the risk of all former leasehold properties to Trillium, we can no longer sub-let to the open market. We believe, however, that we have negotiated sufficient flexibility with this contract to meet our changing business needs.

On 1 April 1998, at the outset of the PRIME contract just under 30 per cent. of the total estate (some 1,644,089 square metres including surplus space) was designated "flexible". This is accommodation which we are entitled to vacate over the course of the contract without charge.

Up to 2 per cent. of this flexible space can be released each year with any unused allowance being carried forward until required. In addition to this, a further 10 per cent. of the total estate can be vacated subject to a charge, to cover Trillium's "unavoidable costs".

Having already given back to Trillium some 10 per cent. of the estate that was surplus to requirements on day one of the contract, we effectively have a package in place that will allow us to vacate half of the entire estate.

In the first year of the contract, however, only 1 per cent. of our flexible accommodation was returned to Trillium, so that we now have some 3 per cent. available for release this year. The current indication is that we will return around 0.5 per cent. before April, so, with the roll over allowance, we could feasibly give back 4.5 per cent. of space to Trillium in the third year of the contract.

The Department is, therefore, well within the flexibility allowance. If a situation arose where we were ever in a situation that we had used up all flexibility in the contract, we could still attempt to return space to Trillium by negotiation or offer it to other Government Departments.