Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, if he will review the Law Officers' Departments departmental estate in order to reduce costs; and if he will make a statement.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has been engaged in a programme of estate reduction since 2010 which has reduced the annual running cost of its estate by £9.32m. This has been achieved by reducing the size of the estate from 95 buildings in 2010 to 59 sites, 15 of which are currently vacant or being used as storage and business continuity sites.

The CPS Estate Rationalisation Programme will continue into 2016 and by the end of 2016 the department expects to reduce the size of the estate to approximately 35 occupied buildings and 10 vacant sites with leases due to expire, reducing running costs by a further £10m per annum.

The other Law Officers’ Departments do not have sizable estates but have made significant efforts to reduce their estate running costs since 2010, including initiatives such as relocation to more cost effective properties and sharing premises with other organisations. The departmental estate costs of all departments are continually kept under review.

Full details on the size of the Government estate - including the Law Officers’ Departments - can be found in the latest State of the Estate Report (SofTE) which reports annually on progress made during the year in improving the efficiency of the Government’s Civil Estate. This is available online at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/state-of-the-estate