Home Department written question – answered at on 4 May 2006.
Theresa Villiers
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by his Department on refreshments in each year since 1997.
Charles Clarke
Home Secretary
Costs for refreshments and working lunches are combined and the total since 1997 is provided in the following table. Refreshments and working lunches are offered as courtesy to visitors or to facilitate the efficient management of meetings. The rise in expenditure reflects an increase in training courses and implementation of new policies and systems. Overall expenditure for 1998 was artificially reduced by a one-off VAT credit.
| Working lunches | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 346,685 |
| 1998 | 92,916 |
| 1999 | 457,147 |
| 2000 | 511,610 |
| 2001 | 572,279 |
| 2002 | 727,354 |
| 2003 | 1,330,997 |
| 2004 | 1,047,330 |
Yes2 people think so
No3 people think not
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