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MORE than £1m of council taxpayers' money will be spent on new furniture for the revamped Hampshire County Council headquarters in Winchester, writes Rachel Masker.

The Conservative-controlled council will fork out £1.25m on stylish modern office furniture for Ashburton Court in Sussex Street, as part of a £40m facelift.

Most of the existing desks, chairs and filing cabinets in good condition will be reused in other council offices, while damaged items will be recycled.

Only 20 per cent of the 825 workstations in the renovated offices will reuse current stock.

But while council workers are likely to be pleased with their sleek new surroundings, anti-council tax protestors have condemned the "extravagances".

The children's department in east block, the first of three blocks to be refitted, has all-new furniture, including multi-coloured designer sofas and chairs in break-out' areas where staff can sit and chat while not working.

The new-look offices boast the best in office chairs and streamline white desks and cabinets.

In the six kitchenettes there are taps supplying boiling and chilled filtered water, advertised online as "the perfect appliance for prestige offices".

The Zip Hydrotaps cost nearly £2,000 each, though the council said it got a discount.

Christine Melsom, chairman of IsitFair, said council chiefs needed to explain why more furniture was not reused in Ashburton Court.

She said: "These are council offices and they should be looking for the best-value items. Why do they need to have top-of-the-range chairs?

"I can't believe they are spending council taxpayers' money on extravagances while people struggle to pay ever-increasing council tax."

But council chief executive Andrew Smith defended the furniture spend, saying the new desks were space-saving and would more than pay for themselves by making room for 150 staff from nearby council offices which could be sold.

A total of 1,100 workers will use the new premises - about 500 more than previously - with car parking spaces turned into office space The council boss declined to give the cost of individual items, including the directors' chairs with adjustable lumber support, head rest and multi-position tilt, saying they were part of a bigger fouryear furniture contract put out to tender. But he said the council received discounts of between 40 and 50 per cent.

Mr Smith said: "The lighting system has sensors which automatically switch off when the spaces are not occupied and when daylight levels are sufficient to work by."

The council said modernising the building should cut energy bills by 50 per cent and reduce the building's carbon footprint.

The council gave the cost of new carpeting throughout the 13,500 sq metre building (including stairwells) as £195,000, while blinds added £59,461 to the bill.

Lib Dem opposition leader, Cllr Adrian Collett, said: "There are a lot of people working in the council offices and they deserve to have good working conditions.

"But if the furniture and fittings are a lot more expensive than reasonable alternatives, that is an extravagance and a waste of council taxpayers' money. "

The total £40m cost of renovating Ashburton Court includes buying temporary offices at Capital House in Andover Road and a new car park at Bar End.

The second phase is now underway, and will see the west and north blocks refurbished and two restaurants, café and 200-seat auditorium added.

10:40am Thursday 3rd July 2008

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