Defra spends £4.7m on empty office space

THE revelation that Defra spends nearly £5 million on empty office space every year has prompted outrage from Liberal Democrat agricultural spokesman Tim Farron.

Dan Norris, Defra Minister, confirmed his Department spends £4.7m on more than 22,000 square metres of vacant office space every year when answering a recent Parliamentary Question.

Mr Farron said it was a ‘shameful waste’ of taxpayers’ money especially given the plight of many farmers in his constituency.

“It is completely unacceptable to spend taxpayers’ cash on renting nothing more than thin air.

“These sums certainly leave a bad taste in the mouth when you consider we have hill farmers earning as little as £5,000 a year.

“Farmers will want to know why Defra are throwing away money at a time when so many of them are being pushed to the brink of bankruptcy,” he said.

The Government spends about £10 million a year across all departments on empty space. Defra is the second highest spender behind the Cabinet Office.

In response a Defra official said: “The department has been marketing the vacant space but the weak commercial property market has made it very difficult to find alternative tenants.

“As with any organisation Defra’s business requirements fluctuate and over time our need for office space has decreased.

“Defra has built flexibility into its estate management so that a significant proportion of our space is rented which enables the department to transfer to another tenant or

05 February 2010