Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much has accrued to the public purse in capital receipts from estate disposals since the publication of the Government's Estate Strategy in October 2014.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The annual breakdown of receipts raised since 2014 is:
Financial Year | Receipts (£ billion) |
2014/15 | 0.22 |
2015/16 | 1.06 |
2016/17 | 0.6 |
Total | 1.88 |
The 2014/15 receipts number is embedded in the total of the sales for the period 2010-2015. The total number for 2010-2015 is £1.8 billion and this number has been published in the State of the Estate 2014-15 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/497449/2014-15_State_of_the_Estate_accessible.pdf) and the reference can be found on page 31.
The 2015/16 and the 2016/17 receipts have been published in the Transparency Report: Government’s land and property disposals in 2015-16 and 2016-17 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sales-of-government-assets). The total numbers for 2015/16 and 2016/17 can be found on page 9 of the report. The report lists all individual asset sales from page 10 onwards. The full list of asset sales can also be found on the same link in CSV format.
The 2017/18 asset sales are in the process of being validated and will be published in the next Transparency Report.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much has accrued to the public purse in capital receipts from the disposal of government property in each year since 2015.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The annual breakdown of receipts raised since 2015 is:
Year (FY) | Receipts (£ billion) |
2015/16 | 1.06 |
2016/17 | 0.6 |
Total | 1.66 |
The 2017/18 asset sales are in the process of being validated and will be published in the next Transparency Report.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to review the pension age for prison officers.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Prison Officers are members of the Civil Service pension scheme, which is the responsibility of the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office has no current plans to review the pension age for prison officers.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the current average public sector office space in square meters per full-time employee.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The State of the Estate report is published annually and provides information on the efficiency and sustainability of the central civil estate. Further details on use of office space is available in Chapter 3 of this report and can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-estate-report-2016-to-2017
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the running costs of the government estate for 2018-19; and what those costs were in each of the last three years.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The operating costs of the central estate, as reported in the State of the Estate report, were £2.57 billion in 2016-17, £2.55 billion in 15-16 and £2.7 billion in 14-15. This shows a reduction of 7.5% in real terms in the preceding three years.
The State of the Estate report is published annually and provides information on the efficiency and sustainability of the central civil estate. Further details on the operating costs of the government estate are set out in chapter 2 and Appendix D of the following:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-estate-report-2016-to-2017
Previous versions of the report can be found using the following web links:
2015-16: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-estate-report-2015-to-2016
2014-15:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-estate-2014-to-2015
The work on the State of the Estate 2017 - 2018 report is ongoing.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of the public sector estate was vacant as of 1 May 2018.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Total vacant space for 2016-17 was 1.5% of the total Central Estate as per the State of the Estate report. The government vacancy rate remains 6 percentage points less than the private sector average of 7.5% and in the last four years, has fallen by 40% compared to a fall of 26% in the private sector average, reflecting better use of the estate
The State of the Estate report is published annually and provides information on the efficiency and sustainability of the central civil estate. Further details on vacant space is available in Chapter 2 of this report and can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-estate-report-2016-to-2017
The work on the State of the Estate 2017 - 2018 report is ongoing.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of the public sector estate is in London.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
London accounted for c.20% of the Central Estate, as per the State of the Estate report 2016-17. The size of the overall Central Estate has decreased by over 1.3 million m2 in the last four years.
In the long term, the London Estate could see a reduction in civil servants through the gradual relocation of public service into other regions. This will drive further efficiencies in London and also support economic growth in other parts of England, supported by the Government Hubs programme facilitating moves to more modern and efficient buildings.
The State of the Estate report is published annually and provides information on the efficiency and sustainability of the central civil estate. Further details on the location of the government estate are set out in chapter 2 of the following:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-estate-report-2016-to-2017
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of the central government estate is based in city centres.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The government property database does not contain classification using city centres.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether all government property has a record on e-PIMS; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
e-PIMS is a comprehensive electronic register of all central government property holdings, including information about requirements for new accommodation, and vacant and surplus properties. Bodies are responsible for entering complete and accurate information about all the properties they use and control on e-PIMS, and complete an annual verification process to confirm they have done this. Regular data quality assurance and sample checks are also carried out by the Office of Government Property.
Providing property information is mandatory for all:
- government departments
- non-ministerial departments and their executive agencies
- arms length bodies
- non-departmental public bodies
- special health authorities
Mandatory recording of information on e-PIMS does not apply to local authorities, the NHS (except for Special Health Authorities), public corporations, privatised railway undertakings, the Crown Estate; the Overseas estate or the Defence Estate (subject to some exceptions).
There are some other exclusions from e-PIMS, such as information about certain highly specialist properties (e.g. flood defences, pipelines, wayleaves and easements).
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much has been spent from the public purse on developing and improving government properties with the intention of adding value prior to a sale since October 2014.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Office of Government Property does not collect this information.