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.

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.