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Rachel Reeves, Britain’s first female chancellor, has pulled the plug on a plan to remove a urinal from her private toilet in the Treasury, after being warned that it was of historic significance and “associated with Churchill”.
Reeves was told that carrying out the work would require listed building consent, which was unlikely to be granted, and that even applying for approval to cover up the urinal would cost about £8,000.
An internal Treasury memo, seen by the Financial Times, suggested the porcelain urinal might have been used by Sir Winston Churchill. The Treasury is located in the Government Offices Great George Street building.
“It is understood to be the only toilet remaining from the early years of the building and it is associated with Churchill,” said the note, citing advice from architects Feilden+Mawson. “As such, both the toilet and urinal are of historic significance.”
Treasury officials considered removing the urinal from the chancellor’s private toilet before the July 4 general election, as they contemplated the possibility that Britain could have its first female chancellor.
Reeves became the first woman to hold the post in its 900 year history on July 5 and was said by allies to have been favourable to carrying out modernisation work in the black-and-white tiled room.
But one ally of the chancellor said: “When she was told it could cost £8,000 to even apply for listed building consent from the council, she pulled the plug on it. She’s not going to waste taxpayers’ money.”
The Financial Times revealed the Treasury’s pre-election planning for Reeves’s likely appointment as chancellor in June. One Tory official said at the time: “Not only are they measuring up the curtains but they are doing up the bathroom.”
Feilden+Mawson advised the Treasury that removing the urinal would not be possible because of its historical significance and was very unlikely to be approved by Westminster council, advised by Historic England.
Even providing a cover for the urinal would have required listed building consent from the council, according to government property advisers. “This will be at least an 18 week process and cost in the region of £8k for the application alone,” the memo said.
Alternative solutions are being sought. The urinal, thought to date back to the early 1920s, is already shielded by a glass screen and the internal memo said one option would be to cover it with “a frosted film straight away”.
Another low-cost solution being discussed in Treasury circles is to partially obscure the offending item with a pot plant. The Treasury declined to comment.
Reeves, who has committed to maintaining strict fiscal discipline, was in New York and Toronto this week on a visit to drum up investment in the UK and to meet other women in the finance sector.
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