30 November 2007
The cost of central government office buildings varies hugely, the National Audit Office has found.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport paid the most, at £636 per square metre, compared with £123 at the former Department for Education and Skills, the NAO revealed, citing figures for 2005/06.
The Treasury had the highest bill for space per member of staff and allocated more space per person — 21.9sqm — than any other department.
But even the former Department of Constitutional Affairs, at the bottom of the table with just 13.3sqm per member of staff, allocates more space than the 12sqm 'standard' proposed by the Office of Government Commerce.
Central government spends £1bn in annual running costs for its offices. But around £326m a year could be saved by bringing building efficiency into line with private sector benchmarks, the NAO report says. 'Further gains could be achieved through relocation to cheaper regions,' it adds.
The NAO also found that hundreds of the 877 buildings reviewed were unable to supply information on energy consumption or recycling facilities.
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