§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security on what date the transfer of the Department's estate as part of the Private Sector Resource Initiative was agreed; and if he will make a statement. [72812]
§ Angela EagleThe decision to transfer the ownership and management of the Department's estate and to procure a private sector supplier of serviced accommodation, via the PRIME (Private sector Resource Initiative for Management of the Estate) initiative, was first announced on 28 June 1996.
All the projects that we inherited, and which involved the outsourcing of work, were reviewed and tested against the Government's new strengthened criteria for involvement of the private sector to ensure that they would work and that they were fair to customers, taxpayers and staff alike. PRIME fully passed this test and we agreed to proceed with the project in support of our commitment to modernise the delivery of Social Security.
433WThe announcement was made on 31 July 1997, Official Report, columns 591–94, by my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Social Security.
A contract was formally signed with the preferred supplier PPM (Partnership Property Management), now Trillium Group, at midday on 24 December 1997 and the property transfer was effected on 1 April 1998.