Renovations or decorating work at Bute House: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
Information requested
1) Between May 2007 and November 2014 inclusive, how much money was spent by the Scottish Government on renovations or decorating work at Bute House?
2) Between December 2015 to date, how much money was spent by the Scottish Government on renovations or decorating work at Bute House?
Response
Bute House is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and under the terms of the lease, Scottish Government is liable for all repairs and maintenance.
There have been no renovations or upgrades to Bute House at the request of the First Minister.
All works carried out have been essential maintenance or repairs, which is a requirement of the Scottish Government as noted above. All works carried out are also in line with Bute House’s status within a World Heritage site, as detailed below.
Bute House is central to the category A listed buildings to the north side of Charlotte Square, Edinburgh. Charlotte Square features in James Craig's 1776 masterplan for the New Town of Edinburgh with designs for the facades by Robert Adam. The square was constructed between 1793 and 1805 and is now part of a World Heritage Site.
The conservation and care of Bute House is delivered through partnership and collaboration between the Scottish Government, Historic Environment Scotland (HES), National Galleries of Scotland, and National Trust for Scotland (NTS). These stakeholders are the current custodians of Bute House and all stand ready to deal with scheduled, and unscheduled, repairs which are not uncommon for buildings of this age.
Please find information on essential maintenance and repairs of Bute House in Annex A attached. We do not hold a detailed breakdown on works carried out between May 2007 and November 2014.
Detail on other essential repairs is already publicly available following publication in 2018. : Bute House repairs 2017 to 2018: cost breakdown - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).
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Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
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