To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department has spent on office refurbishments since its inception. (320474)

Since its inception in June 2009, this Department has spent £5.42 million (inclusive of VAT) on office refurbishments to date. We are currently in the middle of refurbishing our main ministerial building 1 Victoria street.

This investment will allow us to vacate Kingsgate House, London when the lease expires in March 2012 which currently costs around £10 million per annum to run. We have also been able to vacate a property in Glasgow and move to vacant Government space saving £0.5 million per annum on running costs.