Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks cost at Bute House: FOI release

Information requested

1. How much money has been spent on alcohol for Bute House in the last five years? Breakdown of costs by year and what the money was spent on.
2. How many bottles of sparkling wine/champagne/beer have been purchased for Bute House in the last five years? Breakdown by year, cost and brand.
3. How much money has been spent on non-alcoholic drinks for Bute house in the last five years? Breakdown of costs by year.

Response

Providing alcohol at government expense is allowed when official hospitality is provided at a reception, including at Bute House. A modest amount of alcohol can be provided in line with the Scottish Government policy on alcohol. The costs of alcohol below all relate to official hospitality at Bute House.

1.

For the first three of the five years of information you have requested – shown in financial years (2018/19; 2019/20; 2020/21) and 2021/22, I can confirm that this information is already available. Please see this FOI response:

Breakdown of alcohol spending for Bute House: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Under Section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.

For the financial year 2021/22; and for the financial year 2022/23 (to the date of your request, 15 February 2023) spend on alcohol is as follows:

• 2021/22: £84, comprising wine costs only.
• 2022/23 (to 15 February): £2118.05, comprising wine costs only.

2.

No champagne or beer has been provided as part of official hospitality over the past five years. However, in the financial year 2018/19, £138 was spent on Cava.

3.

The information below provides information regarding soft drinks provided by caterers as part of official hospitality for the last five years. Please see below the most detailed information we have about purchases of bottles of sparkling water and soft drinks for Bute House since 2018/19. It should be noted that in most cases these drinks were billed as part of the overall cost of the event or as total soft drinks package for the event. We are unable to disaggregate the total numbers of different types of drinks.

• Financial year 2018/19 soft drinks element of catering packages: £899
• Financial year 2019/20 soft drinks element of catering packages: £596
• Financial year 2020/21 £0
• Financial year 2021/22 soft drinks element of catering packages: £24
• Financial year 2022/23 (to 15 February) soft drinks element of catering packages: £393.32

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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.