Exclusive: Civil servants' furniture binned in office move

Despite devastating public sector cuts, the fittings were destined for landfill, while civil servants at the recently rebranded Department for Education in Sheffield ordered expensive new kit.

Managers at the department are staging a move from offices in Moorfoot to St Paul's Place two minutes away, where offices overlook the redeveloped Peace Gardens.

But none of the furniture from the old building is being transferred, and the Yorkshire Post has learned that it is now being stored in a huge warehouse awaiting disposal. Initially thousands of office chairs, desks, filing cabinets and cupboards – many of them almost new – were destined for a council tip, but a recycling firm has stepped in to save them.

They will now be sent to Kenya by a charity, while the taxpayer foots the bill for the civil servants' offices in Sheffield, which have been kitted out with the latest equipment.

Enough furniture to cater for 2,000 staff has been removed from the Moorfoot building.

Last night, critics called on the Government to curb the costs of such relocation projects.

The TaxPayers' Alliance said it would be "particularly galling" to people in Sheffield, after an 80m loan for the city's Forgemasters firm was cancelled on Thursday as part of swingeing Government cuts.