Bill Kidd, MSP for the Glasgow region, has welcomed the reversal of the MoD’s decision to sell Kentigern House, Glasgow, for £47.7 million and lease the building back on a 20-year contract at an annual cost of almost £3.6 million. Such a proposal was projected to cost the taxpayer £150 million in the long run.

Mr Kidd lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament to welcome the decision.

Commenting, Mr Kidd said: "That common sense has prevailed, with the Ministry of Defence having reversed its decision to sell Kentigern House, is obviously very welcome.

“To sell off the property, in the centre of Glasgow, at such a knockdown price, would have been an act of complete and utter folly—with the taxpayer picking up a massive bill of £150 million in the long run.

“I am glad that officials at the MoD listened to the concerns of the civil servants and Hewlett Packard staff working at the site and, sensibly, decided not to go ahead with the plans sell and leaseback the property.

Note:

Bill Kidd’s motion, lodged in the Scottish Parliament 13/1/2010:

Reversal of Ministry of Defence Decision to Sell Kentigern House
S3M-05524 Bill Kidd (Glasgow) (SNP): That the Parliament welcomes the decision of the Ministry of Defence to abandon its plans to sell off Kentigern House in Glasgow for £47.7 million and lease the building back on a 20-year contract at an annual rental of almost £3.6 million; congratulates the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) and the Ministry of Defence civil servants and Hewlett Packard staff working at the site on their successful campaign to reverse the decision and considers that the sale-and-leaseback proposal would have been gravely shortsighted, at a cost of £150 million to the taxpayer in the long run, and that common sense has prevailed over such myopic decision making.