Cost of Christmas cards to people on Highest Risk List: FOI release

Information requested

Why are you wasting tax payers money sending out Christmas cards to people simply because they are on the high risk register? Under the freedom of information legislation I require to know how much this has cost.
 

Response

The total cost of sending a Christmas Cards to people on the Highest Risk List was £182,549.07 ex VAT.

It is important to note that the primary function of the cards was to provide urgent public safety advice around meeting others over the festive period. This need was heightened with the emergence of the Omicron variant. The decision was made to create them in a ‘Christmas card’ style to provide context for the mailing, and the First Minister was asked to provide a note to the recipients to recognise that there were still continuing challenges for those at Highest Risk.

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.