Labour 'feathers its own nests'

There has been a staggering increase in the amount spent decorating and fitting out Government offices since Labour came to power.

Latest figures show that £351 million - enough to build 15 new secondary schools in London - has been spent in the last five years.

It emerged that:

? the sum earmarked for refurbishing Whitehall departments has doubled over the past four years

? the biggest spender is Lord Chancellor Derry Irvine, whose department has forked out £95million since May 1997.

? spending at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has increased tenfold

? costs have rocketed by more than £10million at the Department for Work and Pensions

? Clare Short's Department for International Development has also had a tenfold increase.

David Hart of the National Association of Head Teachers said: "This is a scandalous waste at a time when there is The Government has said that it is only carrying out essential modernisation work, and that they have inherited a stock of particularly old civil service buildings, which in some cases are listed, and cost a great deal to repair.

Some of the money is going into refurbishing not only departments close to Westminster but also courtrooms across England and Wales, as well as new Jobcentres.

But the substantial costs, and the fact that the total annual expenditure doubled between 1997/98 and 2000/01 to reach £102million a year, drew strong criticism from the Opposition.

John Bercow, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, who elicited the answers through a series of questions, said today: "Now we know where the Government's priorities lie - feathering their own nest. We accept that some of this expenditure may be justified, but serious questions have to be asked at the sheer scale of these costs."

The Cabinet Office, responsible for spending on buildings, was unable to provide figures in order to compare Labour's spending with those under a Tory Government. But some of the money has certainly gone on furnishing the offices of individual ministers.

In the case of Lord Irvine £650,000 was earmarked in his first year of office on refurbishment of his luxurious apartment at the Palace of Westminster. This included the now infamous Pugin wallpaper, costing £350 a roll, a £14,000 dining table and a £3,000 loo.

At the Foreign Office, under the former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook's tenure, refurbishment bills shot up tenfold, from £3.2million in 1997/98 to £31 million three years later.

Most of the increase of the past two years has gone on the rebuilding and fitting out of the listed Admiralty building on Horseguards Parade. Officials say it will ultimately save the Government money as it centralises offices, but it has proved expensive because asbestos needed to be removed.

Some departments have been more frugal. Gordon Brown's empire, The Treasury, saw costs fall over the last two years to some £303,000 last year. However, this does not include the spending on a private sector contract for the Treasury's new office accommodation.