Dim view of £140,000 bill for cleaning City Hall windows

The design of the London Assembly's City Hall building is costing taxpayers "a fortune" because the bill for window cleaning has spiralled to £140,000 a year, the Standard can reveal.

Washing the 3,000-plus panes of glass on Norman Foster's building now costs £13,600 a month — more than doubling the bill eight years ago when it opened. And, despite the rising costs, people working inside say that its complicated design means many windows are still filthy.

Figures obtained by the Standard from the Greater London Authority accounts show that in the past financial year £138,930 was spent cleaning glass at the Mayor of London's headquarters, nicknamed the Beehive. Back in 2002 then mayor Ken Livingstone admitted having to pay £61,000 a year.

Boris Johnson's office said that the terms of the lease meant windows must be cleaned to a certain standard and the market rate was being paid.

Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat leader at City Hall, said: "Clearly there was a fundamental oversight when City Hall was built and no one gave any thought as to how the windows could easily be cleaned at a reasonable cost. As a result of such incompetence a fortune has been spent."

She called it was "a prime example of a modern building where the design has come first and practicalities second", adding: "Serious questions now have to be asked as to why the cost of cleaning the windows has been spiralling while so many continue to be filthy."

The GLA said that, to ensure the windows were cleaned to a reasonable standard, both specialist safety equipment and highly skilled staff were required.

City Hall, on the South Bank next to Tower Bridge, opened in July 2002, two years after the Greater London Authority was created. It is leased under a 25-year agreement. Architect Lord Foster also helped to design the City's Gherkin, HSBC tower in Docklands and Wembley Stadium.