Public assets that could include corporations and government land will be sold by the Chancellor as part of a £36 billion privatisation drive to help to plug gaps in the public finances.

Government departments have been asked to name key assets that could go under the hammer to raise cash to increase the Government’s spending power and to cut public debt.

Details of the sell-offs, which are aimed at raising about £12 billion, should be published within the next few days, a Treasury spokesman said.

Speculation about the sales is centred on possible privatisations of Channel 4; the BBC’s commercial unit BBC Worldwide; and the Forensic Science Service. There has been speculation that the Met Office, the Ordnance Survey, the Ministry of Defence’s Hydrographic Office and the Defence Aviation Repair Office could be sold.

The sale and leaseback of property assets owned by the NHS could also be considered. A sale of the Government’s 33 per cent stake in Urenco, the manufacturer of enriched uranium for nuclear plants, is also on the cards.

The sell-offs are part of a wider privatisation drive to raise £36 billion by 2011. A total of £18.3 billion has already been raised towards the target, with a further £6 billion of funds identified in the form of a sell-off of part of the student loan book.

A list of all fixed assets and investments worth £1 million or more that are owned by the Government was detailed in the National Asset Register, last published in January.

The register was drawn up to enable departments to make “more informed decisions” about the holdings on which they are sitting and to help with investment decisions.

It also aims to “ensure the taxpayer receives maximum value for money from public sector assets through both increased efficiency and through raising revenue which can be used to fund essential new assets”.

The Treasury confirmed this year that it would sell part of a £16 billion portfolio run by the Student Loans Company, which has loans outstanding to 3.2 million present and former students. It previously had sold two tranches of SLC loans – a £1.2 billion portfolio in 1998 and a £1 billion portfolio in 1999.

Other state sales that have already taken place include the sell-off of a 25 per cent stake in British Energy. The sale reduced the Government’s holding to 39 per cent.

From next year, airwave spectrum is also to be sold by the Ministry of Defence. The ministry is to compile its own list of bands that could be freed up. The move comes after an independent audit of the public sector airwaves.

However, a planned move to sell the Tote back to the racing industry appears to have stalled. One offer has already been rejected by the Government because of its concerns about the structure of the deal, which was backed with £350 million of debt from Lloyds TSB. The Government had hoped to raise £400 million from that sale, but it now looks as if any deal could see the Tote go for nearer to £300 million.

Before the student loan book was added to the list, the Chancellor had initially targeted £30 billion of disposals by 2010-11.

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