Labour ministers spent £4,120 on luxury Parisian sofas for Local Government Dept HQ

This from CCHQ:

"In the last year, Labour Ministers authorised officials to spend £134,503 on buying 28 luxury sofas at the cost of £4,120 each. The designer sofas were produced by Parisian designers, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, and bizarrely were purchased as part of an efficiency drive.

In an echo of Ed Ball’s ‘contemplation suite’ in the Department for Children, Schools and Families, these sofas were billed as helping create a “truly peaceful oasis” in Whitehall for council tax officials.

The 28 shocking-red ‘Alcove Highback’ sofas were placed across the Department for Communities and Local Government in Eland House, near Victoria. In total, £2.8 million was spent on new furniture as part of an efficiency initiative called ‘SpaceFlex’ to make the department “more practical” and save money."

Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said:

“As sure as day turns to night, Labour Governments waste your money. Struggling families and pensioners will be outraged that their hard-earned cash has been used to pay for luxury designer sofas to create a ‘peaceful oasis’ for council tax officials. This shows the total disregard the last Labour government had for the public purse."

Tim Montgomerie