188体育

• Date requested: 28 June 2010
• Publish Date: 22 July 2010
• Updated: 10 November 2010

Request

Can the Department for Education disclose information regarding the costs incurred by the department as a result of its relocation from offices in Moorfoot, Sheffield, to offices in St Paul鈥檚 Place, Sheffield, including details of:

1. Costs to the department of the lease on the building?
2. Costs of moving equipment from the Moorfoot premises to the St Paul鈥檚 Place premises?
3. How much was spent on new furniture, fixtures and fittings such as chairs, desks, filing cabinets, carpets, decorations, etc?
4. How much was spent on technology such as phones, computers, entry/exit system, etc?聽

Release

1. The department acquired a 250-year leasehold interest at a one-off cost of 拢25,990,000.
2. The cost of moving equipment from the Moorfoot premises to the St Paul鈥檚 Place premises was 拢259,721.
3. The cost of fitting out the building was 拢4,863,537 including fixtures, fittings, carpets and decoration and the entry/exit system. The cost of new furniture was 拢654,047.
4. The amount spent on information technology and telephony (phones, computers, etc.) was 拢1,785,485.

Background

The department鈥檚 move to St Paul鈥檚 Place will save money. The department鈥檚 former office at Moorfoot was far too big for our requirements and expensive to maintain.

By selling the remaining term of the Moorfoot lease back to Sheffield City Council we were able to offset part of the cost of the relocation. The new building at St Paul鈥檚 Place will also reduce the department鈥檚 running costs by 拢1.5 million per annum.

The department has already moved as much of our old furniture as possible into St Paul鈥檚 Place and some furniture, which was suitable for the second-hand market and met health and safety standards, has been sold. For example, our old desks would not fit into our new office where we are sharing聽seven desks amongst聽ten members of staff in order to save costs and improve our efficiency.