Government departments have racked up a £55 million bill for office furnishings, parliamentary answers have confirmed.

The spending includes £1 million on artwork and over £500,000 for pot plants.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), rather ironically, was the worst culprit, spending £24 million since 2005, the period the figures refer to.

But the Department for Transport comes in at second place with a £17.5 million bill on furnishings.

Shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, said: “At a time when hard-pressed taxpayers are struggling with the rising cost of living and Labour’s tax hikes, the public will rightly question why the government is splashing around such a large amount of taxpayers’ cash on office furniture and plants.”

But a DWP spokesperson told politics.co.uk the figures merely reflected the extent of the work the department does.

“The DWP is the largest government department running a huge operation including Jobcentres, the Pensions Service and the Child Support Agency,” they said.

“We have thousands of offices around the UK, hundreds of which are open to our customers. It is important that our offices are pleasant and inviting places for those using our services, as well as for our staff.”

Figures were only available for 14 government department, meaning the full bill could be significantly higher.