Department costs incurred in the relocation from offices in Moorfoot, Sheffield, to offices in St Paul's Place
Information request and disclosure on the costs incurred by the Department for Education by relocating from its offices in Moorfoot, Sheffield to offices in St Paul's Place.
Documents
Details
- 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’s Place, Sheffield, including details of:
- Costs to the department of the lease on the building?
- Costs of moving equipment from the Moorfoot premises to the St Paul’s Place premises?
- How much was spent on new furniture, fixtures and fittings such as chairs, desks, filing cabinets, carpets, decorations, etc?
- How much was spent on technology such as phones, computers, entry/exit system, etc?
Release
- The department acquired a 250-year leasehold interest at a one-off cost of £25,990,000.
- The cost of moving equipment from the Moorfoot premises to the St Paul’s Place premises was £259,721.
- The cost of fitting out the building was £4,863,537 including fixtures, fittings, carpets and decoration and the entry/exit system. The cost of new furniture was £654,047.
- The amount spent on information technology and telephony (phones, computers, etc.) was £1,785,485.
Background
The department’s move to St Paul’s Place will save money. The department’s 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’s Place will also reduce the department’s running costs by £1.5 million per annum.
The department has already moved as much of our old furniture as possible into St Paul’s 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 seven desks amongst ten members of staff in order to save costs and improve our efficiency.