§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what his estimate is of the(a) annual cost and (b) total value of the empty properties owned by (i) his Department, (ii) his agencies and (iii) other public bodies for which he has had responsibility in each of the last four years. [30073]
254W
§ Mr. WillsThe Lord Chancellor's Department has owned no empty properties in the last four years. The Court Service and the Northern Ireland Court Service have owned a total of 17 properties which have been empty at some point over the last four years. In all cases the buildings were empty only while being marketed for sale, except in one case where the building was empty prior to refurbishment. The estimates of cost and value are shown in the table:
£ Period Cost Value 1997–98 275,263 363,100 1998–99 122,186 1,638,060 1999–2000 331,688 2,473,210 2000–01 99,538 1,816,630 The other public bodies for which the Department is responsible have owned no empty properties in the last four years.