Prescott's £2m admin costs branded scandalous

Last updated at 14:38 22 November 2006


Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is running up an annual bill of almost £2 million in administration and office costs.

Mr Prescott, who was stripped of his departmental responsibilities in the Cabinet reshuffle last May, said in a written Commons statement that he had been cleared by the Treasury to spend £1.96 million on administration.

More here...

• Prescott's £2m admin costs branded scandalous

Shadow constitutional affairs secretary Oliver Heald condemned the spending as a "scandalous" waste of taxpayers' money and promised that the Conservatives would vote against it when it came before the Commons.

"Despite losing his job, John Prescott has created a new Whitehall empire at taxpayers' expense," he said.

"At a time when savage NHS cuts are being imposed by Gordon Brown, spending £2 million on a vanity department is a scandalous waste of time and money."

Mr Prescott has previously disclosed that he retains a staff of 16 civil servants and two special advisers to support him in his ministerial duties.

A spokeswoman for Mr Prescott said: "In addition to representing the PM overseas, the Deputy Prime Minister chairs a large number of Cabinet Committees to coordinate policy on, for example, Muslim engagement, equal pay and post offices, issues that are of great importance for millions of people in this country - hardly the waste of time and money that some have suggested."

She added: "This is not new money. Resources to support the Deputy Prime Minister's Office have been transferred from elsewhere in Government."

Most watched News videos