§ Ms. Colquhounasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the cost of setting up the Northamptonshire Area Health Authority offices at Beaumont, Cliftonville, Northampton; and if he will itemise furnishings and equipment as well as any capital costs or rents. rents.
§ Mr. MoyleThe area health authority estimates that in the first full year additional revenue costs on Beaumont amounted to about £50,000. The AHA has a 35-year lease on the building, from 1975, with an option to extend it for a further 25 years. The rental charge is £109,000 a year subject to review every five years. The capital cost of partitioning the building was £40,000. About £9,000 was spent on the removal itself and on some furnishings and equipment. The majority of the furnishings and equipment were transferred from the AHA's previous dispersed offices when the staff moved.
The AHA was obliged to seek alternative accommodation at Beaumont because it had been asked to vacate the main building of the several in which it was previously accommodated and it was unlikely that planning permission would have been granted for the continued use of portakabins on another site.