To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the (a) transaction date, (b) transaction amount and (c) supplier was of each transaction undertaken by the Central Office of Information using the Government Procurement Card in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10; and which of these transactions attracted level three or enhanced transaction entry.

I have asked the chief executive of the Central Office of Information to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Emma Lochhead , dated 7 September 2011

As Chief Executive of the Central Office of Information (COI), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question 70833 regarding transactions made using the Government Procurement Card (GPC).

The Central Office of Information (COI) uses the Government Procurement Card as it is an efficient way of processing low value transactions.

The Government is committed to transparency and we believe the information regarding Government Procurement Cards for this financial year is the most relevant. Central Government Departments will be publishing any transactions over £500 on their websites, starting with 2011/2012 Quarter 1 (April-June) data at the end of September and then on a monthly basis.

The cost required to obtain, contextualise and report data for the last 3 years would exceed the cost limits of a Freedom of Information request or a Parliamentary question.