Use less energy, Council tells residents, as City Hall's usage skyrockets

7.57.34pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 6th Aug 2007

Westminster City Hall probably doesn't use many of these energy-saving bulbs!

Whilst Westminster City Council's website preaches to local people to cut their energy use to combat climate change and help save the planet, electricity usage at the Council's City Hall home skyrocketed during the lifetime of the last Council (2002-2006).

Between the 2002 and 2006 elections to the Council, electricity usage in the flagship Council office rose by 31%, up from 6.5m to 8.4m kWh. These figures have been released to Liberal Democrat Stuart Bonar under the Freedom of Information Act.

Usage in the year since, 2006/2007, is slightly lower at 7.8m kWh, but still remains 21% up on where it was in 2002.

Commenting, LibDem spokesperson Stuart Bonar said:

"First the Council tells local people to recycle more, whilst City Hall lags behind them. Now, the Council website tells us to use less energy, whilst its own main building's electricity usage is up almost a third.

"Of course we should recycle more. Of course we should use less energy. We know that. Our political leaders should however be taking a lead and showing us the way. What they should not be doing, which is exactly what this Tory-run administration is doing, is telling us to 'do as we say, not as we do'.

"Vote blue, go green? What a joke!"