§ Mr. Edward DaveyTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what plans(a) he and (b) English Partnerships have to (i) publish, (ii) make available for public inspection, (iii) place in the Library and (iv) place on line with full public access English Partnership's register of surplus public sector land; [183838]
(2) if he will list the (a) location and (b) size in hectares of each site in the register of surplus public sector land; and what the total (i) size in hectares of all such sites and (ii) number of sites is in each Government office region. [183839]
§ Keith HillThe Register of Surplus Public Sector Land has been set up to enable Government Departments and their sponsored bodies to share information about the availability of land before it is released on the open market for disposal. The Register is part of new arrangements introduced to make better use of, and to deal with the disposal of, public sector land. This followed a review by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and HM Treasury. The Register is operated by English Partnerships.
The Register provides a mechanism for Government Bodies to ensure that public assets surplus to their individual needs can be put to effective use within the public sector and to identify suitable sites to meet their own operational requirements. It is helping to deliver the policies set out in the Governments Plan for Sustainable Communities (February 2003).
There are no plans for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister or English Partnerships to publish or make publicly available information about individual sites on the Register. In many cases the information provided for the Register is confidential for commercial reasons. It is for the owners of individual sites to determine if information is made publicly available.