National Asset Register 1997: Foreword
We promised, in our Business Manifesto, that every Government department would draw up a comprehensive list of its assets by November 1997. This volume "The National Asset Register " delivers that promise.
The National Asset Register is a landmark in openness and accountability in Government. It demonstrates the Government's commitment to ensure that public assets are put to the best possible use.
This is the first time that any Government has had a full picture of all the assets it owns. It is part of the Government's commitment to openness and accountability. We are publishing the National Asset Register to let the people see what assets the country owns.
The National Asset Register is also work in progress. By giving departments detailed information on the assets they own it helps pave the way for the introduction of resource accounting over the course of the next few years. Departments will move to a resource accounting basis next year and lay their first resource accounts before Parliament for the 1999-2000 financial year.
But the National Asset Register is already being used. It is helping departments to identify whether they are making best use of their assets, and whether they are still needed, as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review. This will enable decisions to be taken about assetswhich are surplus to requirements and which could be more productively used elsewhere.
Alistair Darling
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
National Asset Register 1997 index
National Asset Register full index