The criticism of the controversial extension of the Federal Chancellery is great. The building project is worth more than 800 million euros, and the already huge office space of 25,000 square meters will be significantly larger. While Chancellor Olaf Scholz has defended the project several times, there is now opposition from the Federal Court of Auditors (BRH).
Federal Court of Auditors demands reduction of office space
In a five-page report that was sent to the responsible budget politicians in the Bundestag and the
„Spiegel“
is available, the BRH calls for surplus office space to be reduced and new construction to be kept to a minimum. If the measures are implemented according to the auditors’ ideas, one could already save 300 million euros in cold rent. However, the office space would have to be reduced by 20 percent for this.
If the federal government were to cut back as desired, this would be “a contribution to a climate-neutral federal administration by 2030,” the auditors explain. For the current year alone, however, the federal government is planning investments of 4.8 billion at 101 locations. The BRH accuses the government of proceeding with the planning according to completely old-fashioned criteria that date back to the 1950s.
Home office not included in federal government plans
This would not take into account the fact that “flexible forms of work have become firmly established in the federal authorities”. Due to home office, “usually only 40 to 70 percent of the jobs are occupied” in an unnamed authority. The maximum utilization would never have exceeded 75 percent. That is why the BRH calls for “immediate, needs-based office planning”.
As a first step, a model in which civil servants share desks could easily be implemented. This is possible “quickly and without major investments”. In addition, authorities could be obliged to reduce land use through a corresponding program. It would look better at EU level and in individual federal states than at federal level. Hamburg has already reduced the office space per person from 33 to 24 square meters. Schleswig-Holstein wants to follow suit.
