Disgrace and Favour official residences
We were going to publish this earlier, and it is not wholly complete yet, - more information is welcome.
John Prescott's belated announcement that he will no longer be the "official resident" of the Dorneywood country house reminds us of all the other "Grace and Favour" houses which have traditionally been used by senior Cabinet Ministers over the years.
We do not have a problem with the concept of a Government owned "tied cottage" which is conveniently close by a Minister's Departmental offices, on the grounds of security and cost. Some of the premises have been donated to British Government by their previous owners, and some have trust funds which pay for most of their upkeep, but others have trust funds which are subsidised by the public purse..
The massively increased security costs of such premises have cost the taxpayer millions e.g. the fitting of bullet and blast resistant windows and curtains, CCTV surveillance and intruder alarms, secure government communications systems etc.
Remember that Cabinet Ministers are Members of Parliament, and they all have at least two private homes as well, in their constituencies and in London..
The strange Cabinet re-shuffle of the 4th of May 2006 mean that the "Grace and Favour" residences are now no longer simply associated with the traditional Cabinet posts as in the past.
The Government Minister Lord Bassam answered a Written Question in the House of Lords in January 2006, whichlisted the Official Residences.
There is a useful House of Commons Library paper (.pdf or
Google HTML version) on the subject of these Ministerial Offical Residences:
Central London
Downing Street
Wikipedia article on Downing Street:
- 9 Downing Street was named in 2001 and is the Downing Street entrance to the Privy Council Office and currently houses the Chief Whip's office.
- 10 Downing Street is the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, and thus the residence of the British Prime Minister, as in modern times, the two roles have been filled by the same person.
- 11 Downing Street is the official residence of the Second Lord of the Treasury, and thus is the home of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
- 12 Downing Street, formerly the Chief Whip's Office, currently houses the Prime Minister's Press Office, Strategic Communications Unit and Information and Research Unit.
[...]
After the 1997 General Election in which Labour took power, a swap was carried out by the present incumbents of the two titles, Tony Blair being a married man with three children still living at home, whilst his counterpart, Gordon Brown, was unmarried at the time of taking up his post. Although Number 10 continued to be the prime minister's official residence and contain the prime ministerial offices, Blair and his family moved into the more spacious Number 11, while Brown lived in the more meagre apartments of Number 10.
Admiralty House (not Admiralty Arch)
Admiralty House itself is a fairly small three storey building of yellow brick. The front of the house faces Whitehall but it does not have its own main entrance as it is entered through the Ripley Building. The front facade has a symmetrical facade of three broad bays and one additional small bay at the southern end. Many of the neo-classical interiors survive. The rear facade is of five bays and faces Horse Guards Parade.
The then Cabinet Office Minister David Miliband gave this Written Answer on 23th January 2005:
"The capital value of the three flats, if extracted from the overall capital value of Admiralty House, is £7 million. The term "Open Market Rental Value" is no longer recognised by the Appraisal and Valuation Standards but is now defined as "Market Rent". The notional market rent for all the three flats is £21,900-£25,500 per calendar month (each flat is estimated to be in the region of £7,300-£8,500 per calendar month).
The current occupants of these 3 Flats are John Prescott, Margaret Beckett and Geoff Hoon.
John Prescott is still hanging on to his flat, which is virtually next door to his private office office at 26 Whitehall.
Margaret Beckett seems to be staying put, despite being promoted to Foreign Secretary, and so, in theory to No. 1 Carlton Gardens.
Geoff Hoon is meant to be moving out, according to this Written Answer to Lord Hanningfield on 5th June 2006:
My right honourable friend the Minister for Europe will be vacating his government-owned residence as soon as arrangements can be made.
The traditional London residence of the Foreign Secretary, but somehow Jack Straw seems to be retaining the use of this, despite being replaced by Margaret Beckett.
Government house in Pimlico - 62 South Eaton Place
The Prime Minister's Written Answers misleadingly refer to this as the Government House in Pimlico, at 62 South Eaton Place, is on the southern edge of the much more posher district of Belgravia. Despite this, it looks rather prison like, with its bullet proof and blast resistant windows and curtains and CCTV cameras. It is right next door to The Belgravia public house, and within line of sight of the Belgravia Police Station, and the Victoria Coach Station terminus.
There is a special "national security" exemption for street parking according to this Statutory Instrument 2000 No. 1547 The Greater London Highways and Road Traffic (Various Provisions) Order 2000
48. South Eaton Place (so far as it lies to the south west of a line down the centre of the carriageway) between its junction with Ebury Street and the party wall of Numbers 54 and 56 South Eaton Place.
This former official residence of the Home Secretary , was used by the Conservative Home Secretary Michael Howard, and was haunted by the disgraced David Blunkett who did not leave until well after his second resignation as a Cabinet Minister,
David Blunkett occupied this house (as well as his private properties) during his tenure as Secretary of State for Education, as Home Secretary, whilst he was out of office having resigned as Home Secretary in disgrace, as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and for months after he had resigned in disgrace from the Cabinet.
This meant that the flat belonging to Home Secretary Charles Clarke had to have public money wasted on it to provide anti-terrorist security and secure communications.
Presumably the same also now applies to John Reid's residence, although that is probably already armoured as he was Defence Minister.
Apparently the Treasury now plans to sell this building off for around £3 million.
Country retreats:
Although run by a supposedly "independent" trust, set up by the Chequers Estate Acts of 1917 and 1958.
Several Parliamentary Written Answers refer to this independent trust fund. which seems to be fed with lots of public money.
The Prime Minister: Chequers was established under the Chequers Estate Acts 1917 and 1958 and is administered by independent trustees who receive an annual grant from public funds towards its maintenance and to cover civilian staff employed at Chequers in accordance with the Acts. In the last five years the grant has been:
Year...................£
1997–98...........259,218
1998–99...........317,645
1999–2000.......326,661
2000–01...........327,183
2001–02...........393,018
Additional figures for the grant issued to Chequers are:2002–03: £499,817.
Official Entertainment expenses: for 10 Downing Street and Chequers seem to be lumped together:
For 2003–04 and 2004–05, the total cost of official entertainment by the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street and Chequers was £99,111 and £160,278 respectively.
So, essentially, it seems to cost around half a million pounds a year to keep Chequers going.
Dorneywood is a moderately large Queen Anne style house built in 1920, near Burnham in Buckinghamshire. It was gifted to the National Trust by Lord Courtauld-Thomson in 1947 as a country home for a senior member of the Government, usually a Secretary of State or Minister of the Crown.
In the past it has been used by previous Chancellors of the Exchequer, but Gordon Brown does not seem to be inclined to move in after Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's "croquet on the lawn" photos and sex scandals.
Chevening in Kent
This is much larger than either Chequers or Dorneywood, and was the official country residence of the Foreign Secretary.
The 115-room house, situated near a lake in the midst of a 3,500 acre (14 km²) estate, is a three-storey, symmetrical red brick structure in the English Renaissance style. It may have been designed by noted 17th-century British architect Inigo Jones.
However, Jack Straw now seems to still have the use Chevening and of No 1 Carlton Gardens, despite no longer being Foreign Secretary.
Northern Ireland:
Incredibly, the annual running cost of Hillborough Castle (which does not just include the Secretary of State's apartment) was reported by John Reid, when he was in the job, as being £1.1 million !
Stormont House (not Stormont Castle)
Has been used by former Speakers of the Northern Ireland Parliament and Prime Ministers in preference to HIllsborough.
Scotland:
The 18th century Robert Adam designed Bute House on the north side of Charlotte Square in Edinburgh's New Town.
It has been the official residence of Scotland's First Minister since 1999.
Wales:
According to this Freedom of Information Act request
"2 In response to your questions, I can confirm that there are currently no official residences maintained by the National Assembly for Wales for use by Ministers and NAfW staff."
Comments
Blunkett's former offical residence was valued at £2.4 million
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm060710/text/60710w1560.htm#column_1670W
Posted by: NuLabour | July 12, 2006 8:54 AM