Despite being stripped of its duties, the ODPM is staying put at its Whitehall offices. When the department still had some responsibilities, such as local government, it worked out of both Whitehall and Eland House in Victoria. But, although the new Department for Communities and Local Government has taken on the functions of the ODPM, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has insisted that he and his reduced staff remain in their palatial Admiralty offices in Whitehall, forcing secretary of state Ruth Kelly and her entire department to shuffle off to Victoria at a cost of £40,000.
