Written question asked by Baroness Warsi (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour) on Thursday, 30 April 2009.

Bottled Water

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much (a) the Drinking Water Inspectorate, (b) OFWAT, and (c) the Environment Agency, spent on bottled water in each of the last five years.

Answer: The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) has not spent money on bottled water. The DWI office has a supply of fresh tap water available to staff and visitors. Ofwat has not spent any money on bottled water. Environment Agency records are not held centrally and would incur disproportionate cost to collate. However since 2005 the Environment Agency has not provided bottled water as part of the hospitality service to staff or guests for meetings or other events. A formal operational instruction has been issued to all Environment Agency regions which explicitly states that bottled water should not be provided for meetings or other functions. The only exceptions are if drinking water is not available on site (possible at remote depots) or for emergency purposes (e.g. mains disruption).

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 2956; 710 c43WA
Session: 2008-09
Subjects: Expenditure Environment Agency Drinking Water Inspectorate Ofwat Mineral waters
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk