Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the projected cost savings are from the proposed closure of the Marine Offices in (a) Beverley, (b) Orpington and (c) Harwich in 2018; and what the value is of (i) land and (ii) buildings on each site.

Mr Robert Goodwill

(a) The projected savings from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) operating out of their own facility at Bridlington and closing Beverley Marine Office would be £90K per annum.

The only value to the MCA is the value of the lease. The value of (i) land and (ii) building assets reside with the landlord.

(b) The projected savings from stopping operation from Orpington Marine Office would be £75K per annum.

The only value to the MCA is the value of the lease. The value of the (i) land and (ii) building assets reside with the landlord.

(c) Stopping the survey functions from the Harwich Marine Office, based at Walton-on-the Naze, will introduce minimal cost savings to the MCA. Moving to a new location in the Ipswich area would improve survey and inspection service capability to customers and is a better option for support to Her Majesty’s Coastguard Coastal Safety management teams.

The Harwich site has a book value of (i) £184K for the land and (ii) £530K for the building.