§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Solicitor-General what the estimated value is of the property portfolio held by the Law Officers' Department. [108360]
§ The Solicitor-General[holding answer 14 Apri12003]: Crown Prosecution Service: The National Asset Register, published in July 2001 (Cm 5221), lists those assets owned by the Crown Prosecution Service. The Crown Prosecution Service has freehold ownership of buildings in four locations—Carmarthen, Haverfordwest, Portsmouth and Sheffield. The total estimated market value of the land and buildings for these four locations at 31 March 2000 was £3,845,000.
Serious Fraud Office:
The Serious Fraud Office has a single headquarters building which is subject to a full commercial repairing lease with a remaining life of some 10 years and is not owned by the Serious Fraud Office. The Serious Fraud Office does not own any other land or property.
Treasury Solicitor's Department:
The Treasury Solicitor's Department occupies a largely Crown freehold property, incorporating a small area on a 999 year lease to the Crown, whose total value was estimated at a little over £28,000,000 on 31 March 2002.
The Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate both occupy premises rented on modern leases at commercial rates.
In addition, the Treasury Solicitor's Department manages a modern leasehold property formerly, occupied by Government Property Lawyers and now hosting a number of public bodies who pay occupation charges ("rent") under interdepartmental Memoranda of Terms of Occupations. The lease expires in 2016.