27 July 2001
The 921-page
The register puts a price tag on everything from a Trident submarine (£800m) to the cost of owning Channel 4, a mere £89m, and the Department of International Development's single pick-up truck in Nepal, worth £1,000.
Anyone with ambitions to own the keys to the most famous address in Britain, 10 Downing Street, would have to hand over £20m for the privilege.
And anyone interested in buying the tree at the National Physical Laboratory grown from the one that let an apple fall on the head of a pensive Sir Isaac Newton, inspiring his theory of gravity, is destined to disappointment. According to the Department of Trade and Industry, it is priceless.
The register has been drawn up as part of a wider initiative to force departments to make better use of their assets. The Treasury's decision to change to resource accounting means that, where previously ministries would only be charged for buying an asset, now they will also have to pay the cost of maintaining it.
As a result, departments now have an incentive to sell assets that are not earning their keep and in most cases will be allowed to keep the proceeds. The register reveals that across government £1.29bn of assets were sold last year.
Andrew Smith, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said the changes would promote more efficient use of taxpayers' money. 'Resource accounting and budgeting measures for the first time the full cost of holding and using assets,' he said.
'Departments will have to meet these costs rather than being encouraged to overlook them as under previous arrangements, giving a clear incentive to dispose of costly and non-productive assets.'
PFjul2001
