Labour-run Newham Council spends £111 million on one office block

From the BBC London website:

A council in east London spent more than £111m on one office block, including more than £1,800 on individual designer lights, an investigation has revealed. In October the BBC discovered Newham Council spent £18.7m refurbishing its new back office, called Building 1000.

But documents released after a Freedom of Information request now show the total cost including purchase price and stamp duty was another £92m on top of that. During the project bosses spent almost £10,000 on five designer light fittings - at a cost of £1,853 each.

Local Government Minister Bob Neill condemned the spending as "scandalous" and "a monumental waste":

"Newham's justification that this vanity makeover was part of an efficiency drive is even more laughable now it emerges they spent nearly two thousand pounds on designer lights. How one of the poorest boroughs in the country managed to spend £111m on their offices is beyond my comprehension."

More here.

Newham is run by Labour, with the executive mayor and every single councillor represening the Labour Party.