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Bute House chimneys bill sweeps up £10,000



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NEARLY £10,000 was spent on the chimneys at Bute House, the First Minister's official residence in Charlotte Square, last year.
A Scottish Government response to a freedom of information request says the inspection, cleaning and maintenance of the chimneys was the only substantial item of expenditure on the building in 2007-08.

The bill was £8309 excluding VAT. If tax was payable, the full cost would be around £9760.

There has been speculation plans are being drawn up for renovations to bring the 200-year-old house up to 21st century standards.

The property underwent a £35,000 security upgrade in 2004-05. There was further security work costing £1706 in 2005-06, along with a £16,000 refurbishment of the catering kitchen.

The then-Scottish Executive also paid £110,000 towards maintenance for stonework and windows in 2006-07.





The full article contains 149 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 12 May 2008 1:40 PM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Epicuras,

12/05/2008 14:48:47
just turn it into flats like everything else - why should the first minister get a free house - he can entertain at the parliament and any guests can stay in the holiday inn/any hotel up the rd
nobody gives me a free house (or any of the juicy financial perks) to go to work and I'm sure i do a lot more good for scotland than some (read last 4 at least) of the clowns who've lived there
2

a proud doonhamer,

Dumfries 12/05/2008 17:13:18
Aye, can you imagine? What is next? Are we going to see him pay for the cleaning of the windows, or shovelling of the snow, or God forbid, the provision of clean water and electricity?

Alex should have shown true leadership and let the chimney fall in, and kept the dirty windows, and let the snow pile and block traffic. Clean water and electricity are simply frills in our Scotland.

Just look at the leadership shown by Labour. In town after town, the buildings are falling down, the grime is growing, and residents make do without clean water or sufficient power.

Some people will do anything to take away our fine Scottish traditions.

Alex, shame on ye.

For those intelligent to understand that the above is sarcasm, the real facts are that the expenditure was intiated by the National Trust (owner and manager of Bute House) and involved the repair of aging stonework on the chimneys.

The EEN is either deliberately distorting this for political advantage or has journalists and editors that are complete idiots. I will leave it up to the readers to determine which option is more likely.

It will be a hard choice, the two options are nearly identical in weight.

 

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