Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to publish an updated Transparency Report on the Government's land and property disposals in (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In recent years, the Cabinet Office has reported information on receipts from property disposals through its annual State of the Estate report which is laid before Parliament (SOFTE 2020-21; SOFTE 2021-22). The Department plans to continue to do this.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the Office of Government Property's policy is on the disposal of surplus land following the withdrawal of that office's previous guidance on that matter on 1 June 2021.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The new Government Property Strategy, which was published in the Summer, sets out the policy to achieve a smaller, better, greener government estate, disposing of surplus, underutilised and poor quality property to enable efficiency savings and bring in capital receipts. When disposing of surplus sites, organisations should assess alternative uses and Government policy priorities to identify the most appropriate disposal mechanism.
Work has been underway to revise guidance for the disposal of government property to reflect the aims of the new Strategy. It is intended to reissue this guidance in the New Year.