Written question asked by Andrew Rosindell (Conservative) on Monday, 1 June 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 3 June 2009. It was answered by Kitty Ussher (Labour) on Thursday, 11 June 2009 on behalf of the Treasury.

Departmental Drinking Water

Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much his Department has spent on bottled water in each of the last two years;

Answer: Since June 2008, meetings at the Treasury's 1 Horse Guards Road building have been supplied with in-house bottled filtered water, rather than bottled water sourced from outside suppliers. It is not possible to separately identify costs of bottled water prior to June 2008 as this forms part of the cost of meeting refreshments that includes teas and coffees, bottled water and biscuits.Water coolers were used in the Treasury's Norwich building at a cost of £2,250 in 2007-08. The cost for 2008-09 forms part of the Treasury's resource account which is due for publication in the summer following audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The use of water coolers at the Norwich office is being discontinued following their replacement with plumbed in machines.

Secondary information