Written question asked by Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative) on Thursday, 11 March 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 30 April 2004. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Friday, 30 April 2004 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many bottles of wine are held by his Department. - Inc figure.

Answer: Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many bottles of wine are held by his Department. [162012] Mr. Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold central records of the wines held by UK missions overseas. In the UK, the principal holding is the Government Wine Cellar, managed by Government Hospitality on behalf of all Government Departments. The stock of approximately 37,000 bottles is a mixture of fine wines, less expensive beverage wines and spirits. The cellar is generally stocked by purchasing when they are young and relatively inexpensive and then allowing them to mature. This allows the government to use fully mature wines of considerable value for its hospitality requirements, while representing a considerable saving to the taxpayer compared to the cost of buying mature wines in the open market.

Secondary information