Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs written question – answered at on 26 March 2012.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department spent on (a) cut flowers and (b) pot plants between May 2010 and February 2012.
Data on expenditure on cut flowers and pot plants across the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) network of 260 posts worldwide is not held centrally and could only be supplied at disproportionate cost. However, in the UK the breakdown is as follows:
(a) Government Hospitality (a section within the FCO's Protocol Department) provides corporate hospitality services for the whole of Government, at Lancaster House, the FCO Fine Rooms, 1 Carlton Gardens and 10 Downing street, among other venues. It is used both for government business hospitality and commercial hire to fee paying private clients. It hosts over 200 events each year. Government Hospitality provides semi-permanent plant displays in public areas, decorative arrangements for weekly display and individual table arrangements for lunches and dinners. Fresh flowers are only used when it is appropriate and necessary. Decisions are made on an event-by-event basis and costs are carefully monitored to ensure value for money. Much of this expenditure is reimbursed by revenues generated by the events. From May 2010-March 2011 the costs were £14,276.21. From April 2011-February 2012 the costs were £11,519.30.
(b) There is no direct cost to the FCO for pot plants.
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