Alcohol spend across Scottish Government: FOI release

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.


FOI reference: FOI/17/01729
Date received: 25 July 2017
Date responded: 29 August 2017

Information requested

  1. How much has the Scottish Government spent on alcohol in each of the past three financial years?

  2. What is the most expensive single item of alcohol that the Scottish Government regularly serves at Scottish Government events?

  3. If possible, a list of the most expensive events held by the government in terms of spend on food and drink that have taken place in the past three years.

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we do not hold specific data in relation to alcohol spend across the Scottish Government in each of the past three financial years or details of the most expensive single item of alcohol regularly served at a Scottish Government event. Drinks served at Scottish Government events are normally part of a package provided by the venue or caterers including both alcohol and soft drinks and is not broken down to individual items. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information that you requested.

In respect of your third point, we only hold information on Ministerial events planned and delivered by the Scottish Government's Visits and Events Team. I therefore attach at Annex A, the total cost of food and drinks provided at Ministerial Events for the past 3 years. Please note that the costs associated with drinks may include soft as well as alcoholic drinks. Due to differing recording and invoicing procedures, it is not always possible to split the cost of food and drink from the total event costs which can also include venue hire, additional staffing and technical set up. This is the case for the reception held on 28 October 2014.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses

FoI-17-01729 - Annex A.pdf

Contact

Please quote the FOI reference

Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000

The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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