§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer to the hon: Member for Truro (Mr. Taylor) of 12 April,Official Report, column 14, if he will give a breakdown of the estimated total cost of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office building at King Charles street; and what considerations led him to give priority to expenditure of such a magnitude on the work.
§ Mr. GoodladBefore 1988, partial refurbishment of the Foreign Office main building—Old Public Offices—was carried out by the Property Services Agency, funded from its overall provision for maintenance of the civil 11W estate. It is not now possible to quantify that expenditure. An investment appraisal in 1987 showed that it would be less expensive completely to refurbish the grade I listed building than to provide new accommodation for the FCO. It had not been refurbished since being first occupied by four separate Departments of State in 1875.
Responsibility was transferred from the PSA to the FCO in 1988. Expenditure has been incurred as follows:
Year £ 1988–89 5,453,170 1989–90 7,580,608 1990–91 8,483,080 1991–92 12,973,778 1992–93 11,150,596 1993–94 12,564,053 Total 58,205,285 The estimated out-turn for 1994–95 is £7.5 million.
Design work is proceeding on the final phase, which is provisionally estimated to cost about £20.3 million, including works, resources and VAT, over the 1995–96, 1996–97 and 1997–98 financial years. On completion, the building will provide modern office accommodation, meeting health and safety and fire requirements. It will also provide 25 per cent. more office space, allowing leased buildings to be given up, thus reducing future running costs and improving operational efficiency.