Cable told come clean on Land Registry plans

[Tony Gosling]

Cable told come clean on Land Registry plans

http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/pcs_comment/index.cfm/cable-told-come-clean-on-land-registry-plans
20 February 2014
We are calling on business secretary Vince Cable 
to publish future plans for the Land Registry as 
the government lines it up for privatisation.
In our submission to the formal consultation on 
proposed changes to the 150-year-old institution, 
we accuse the government of misleading the public and businesses.
Ministers are withholding key and detailed 
information about their plans for the body that 
currently operates as a self-financing civil service 'trading fund'.
The government wants to split the Land Registry 
into two, with the main part being run as either 
a government-owned company or a joint venture.
The consultation document does not offer the 
option of maintaining the status quo.
It also conveniently omits to mention that the 
GovCo option has previously been identified by 
auditors KPMG as an enabler for full privatisation.
We point out in our submission that the 
government has failed to say why any changes are 
necessary, given the registry has a customer 
satisfaction rating of 98% and made £98.8 million for the Treasury last year.
The most serious omission is that the document 
does not include detailed information about a new 
operating model – including proposed changes to 
the size and shape of the organisation – and this 
is what we are calling on the government to publish.
If it continues to refuse to do this, the public 
and businesses who rely on the services the Land 
Registry provides will be unable to reach an informed view.
We are holding a briefing session for MPs on 26 
February to highlight our concerns and make the 
case for keeping the Land Registry public.
<http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/pcs_comment/index.cfm/http://action.pcs.org.uk/page/speakout/keep-land-registry-public>Email 
your MP and ask them to attend our briefing

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