Government wastes 325 million pounds

In these days of doom and gloom, it's best to be ultra-economic. Therefore every single person reading this should hang their lowly head in shame if they ever used more than the requisite toilet-paper scenario of one-up, one-down and one-to-polish.

Got the message yet? Waste is bad. It's very very bad. And if you were to waste the grand total of £325 million per year on pointless office space, you'd be the sort of feckless charlatan who'd be all too ready to appear on the Jeremy Kyle Show as a figurehead for national shame. So, Mr. Whitehall ... come on down...

That's right. According to new figures, the beloved Treasury has spent around £6bn running offices for 188,000 staff in 2005. Consider the fact that all Westmonster needs is two deckchairs and an industrial-size crate of Space Raider crisps as nutrition, and you're looking at a very serious misallocation of resources indeed.

Is misallocation even a word? We're so indignant we just don't care.

Here's what Conservative MP Edward Leigh had to say:

"Government departments are under pressure to increase the value for money of their office property by reducing accommodation costs and improving the efficiency with which they use their space. There is big room for improvement, given the markedly poor performance of government buildings in these respects compared with the private sector, with a potential £326 million to be saved each year."

Man oh man - he's right. Face it: if the Tories had their way, those millions could easily factor into their 'trickle-down' theory of economics. And what could be better than a bunch of privileged public schoolboys deciding how best to allocate valuable public resources?

What, we ask you?

Written by C J Davies on 22 May 2008 12:52 AM. There are 1 comments so far. Permalink