‘Gold-plated’ office refit for elite public servants

State Services Commissioner chief executive Peter Hughes is under fire after an office refurbishment costing almost $10,000 for each employee.

Documents received by the commission, which acts as a kind of human resources body for the state sector, show refurbishing two floors it leases in the Reserve Bank Building in Wellington is expected to cost $960,000 for the construction and fit-out, with another $138,000 in project management fees.

The spending is equivalent to around $9547 for each of the organisation’s 115 employees. With an average salary of $134,658, the State Services Commission has the highest average salary of any government department.

Around half of the spending was on furniture.

ACT leader David Seymour said the commission had received a ‘‘gold-plated office fit-out’’.

‘‘This is a classic example of the culture of excess that National tolerated and Labour accelerated,’’ Seymour said.

In Parliament on Tuesday, State Services Minister Chris Hipkins said he had not been briefed on the spending and so could not comment on it.

However his office later released a statement which suggested Hipkins had been told of the refurbishment, twice.

‘‘The minister was briefed verbally in general terms before Christmas,’’ a spokesman said by email. ‘‘He received some information last night.’’

The spokesman said Hipkins ‘‘will be asking SSC for more detail before being able to comment on the relative cost of the refit’’.

Hughes has not commented on the refurbishment, but the release of the spending figures included a statement defending the spending as ‘‘at the lower end for comparable public sector office fit-outs’’ in terms of cost per square metre.

The commission said it had changed the way it works since moving to the Reserve Bank Building six years ago. It also needed to accommodate project teams and large group meetings.