Alcohol subsidies

The request was partially successful.

Dear House of Commons,

What is the amount of UK tax used to subsidize alcohol at the Houses of Parliament?

Yours faithfully,

richard

FOI Commons, House of Commons

1 Attachment

Dear Richard,

 

Freedom of Information request F17-461

 

I refer to your recent request for information made under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the Act), included below. 

 

The Act requires a name to be provided before the request can be
progressed.  I would be grateful if you could re submit your request
providing your full name (title and/or first name/initial with surname
satisfies the requirement for provision of a real name).

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office has produced guidance on this matter
which can be found at:
[1]https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio....

 

Your request will be held pending receipt of this information.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Sarah Price

IRIS Support Officer
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of
Commons

 

[2]cid:image002.jpg@01D02B64.34D76640

Click [3]here for details about Freedom of Information

in the House of Commons and to see what we publish.

 

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: richard [mailto:[FOI #443660 email]]
Sent: 06 November 2017 13:48
To: FOI Commons <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Alcohol subsidies

 

Dear House of Commons,

 

What is the amount of UK tax used to subsidize alcohol at the Houses of
Parliament?

 

Yours faithfully,

 

richard

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[4][FOI #443660 email]

 

Is [5][House of Commons request email] the wrong address for Freedom of
Information requests to House of Commons? If so, please contact us using
this form:

[6]https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[7]https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...

 

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:

[8]https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...

 

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

 

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

UK Parliament Disclaimer: This e-mail is confidential to the intended
recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and
delete it from your system. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying
is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no
liability is accepted for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by
this e-mail. This e-mail address is not secure, is not encrypted and
should not be used for sensitive data.

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...
3. http://www.parliament.uk/site-informatio...
4. mailto:[FOI #443660 email]
5. mailto:[House of Commons request email]
6. https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...
7. https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...
8. https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...

Dear FOI Commons,

Mr Richard king

Yours sincerely,

richard

FOI Commons, House of Commons

1 Attachment

Dear Mr King,

 

Freedom of Information request F17-461

 

Thank you for your reply stating your full name, dated 8 November 2017,
received by us on the same date and which is copied below.

 

We will endeavour to respond to your request promptly but in any case
within 20 working days i.e. on or before 8 December 2017.

 

If you have any queries about your request, please use the request number
quoted above and in the subject line of this email.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Sarah Price

IRIS Support Officer
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of
Commons

 

[1]cid:image002.jpg@01D02B64.34D76640

Click [2]here for details about Freedom of Information

in the House of Commons and to see what we publish.

 

 

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: richard [mailto:[FOI #443660 email]]
Sent: 08 November 2017 15:30
To: FOI Commons <[email address]>
Subject: Re: F17-461 Request Acknowledgement

 

Dear FOI Commons,

 

Mr Richard king

 

Yours sincerely,

 

richard

 

-----Original Message-----

 

Dear Richard,

 

 

 

Freedom of Information request F17-461

 

 

 

I refer to your recent request for information made under the Freedom of 
Information Act 2000 (the Act), included below. 

 

 

 

The Act requires a name to be provided before the request can be 
progressed.  I would be grateful if you could re submit your request 
providing your full name (title and/or first name/initial with surname 
satisfies the requirement for provision of a real name).

 

 

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office has produced guidance on this
matter  which can be found at:

[1][3]https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl....

 

 

 

Your request will be held pending receipt of this information.

 

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

Sarah Price

 

IRIS Support Officer

Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of 
Commons

 

 

 

[2][4]cid:image002.jpg@01D02B64.34D76640

 

Click [3]here for details about Freedom of Information

 

in the House of Commons and to see what we publish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[5][FOI #443660 email]

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[6]https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...

 

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:

[7]https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...

 

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

 

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

UK Parliament Disclaimer: This e-mail is confidential to the intended
recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and
delete it from your system. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying
is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no
liability is accepted for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by
this e-mail. This e-mail address is not secure, is not encrypted and
should not be used for sensitive data.

References

Visible links
2. http://www.parliament.uk/site-informatio...
3. https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...
4. file:///tmp/cid:image002.jpg@01D02B64.34D76640
5. mailto:[FOI #443660 email]
6. https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...
7. https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...

hide quoted sections

FOI Commons, House of Commons

1 Attachment

Dear Mr King,

 

 

Freedom of Information Request F17-461

 

Thank you for your request for information as copied below. You asked for
the amount of UK tax used to subsidise alcohol at the Houses of
Parliament.

 

Please note that our response only deals with alcohol served in venues for
which the House of Commons is responsible. Some alcohol is served in
venues which are the responsibility of the House of Lords, which is a
separate public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information
Act. You may wish to consider forwarding your request to them. Requests
for information relating to the House of Lords should be directed to
[1][email address].

 

The House of Commons has interpreted your request to be for the cost,
contributed by the British tax-payer, to subsidise alcohol purchased in
the House of Commons.

 

This information is not held by the House of Commons. To help you
understand this response, we hope the information provided below is
useful.

 

In the first instance, the House of Commons accepts that there is a great
deal of public interest in the prices of food and drink sold from venues
across the parliamentary estate and we are frequently asked about the
‘catering subsidy’. However, it is important to note that catering
services for the House of Commons are provided by an in-house team who do
not provide a subsidised service in the commercial sense of the word.

Some venues make a profit, referred to as contribution because it
contributes to reducing overall costs. In other venues, the cost of
providing the service does exceed the income received in sales due to the
irregular hours and unpredictability of parliamentary business. The
contribution or cost of each venue is calculated by subtracting the food,
drink and operational costs from the catering sales. Rather than a
subsidy, the House monitors the contribution or cost of each catering
venue, which include cafeterias, dining rooms, restaurants and bars.

 

We hold a record of the cost or contribution of each venue on an annual
basis. This information up to 2015 is available here:
[2]https://www.parliament.uk/site-informati....
We do not hold a record of the cost or contribution of different
categories of product (i.e. alcohol products) or of individual items.

 

Prices of food and drink are regularly benchmarked against appropriate
external comparators. The total cost of catering is reported yearly as a
transparency publication, available here:
[3]http://www.parliament.uk/site-informatio....
These costs have been more than halved since the beginning of the last
Parliament, from £6m in 2010/11 to £2.9m in 2016/17.

 

Please also note that the customers who use the on-site catering venues
include around 15,000 pass-holders, which include some of the 650 MPs, but
also includes MPs’ staff, House staff, civil servants, contractors, Peers,
members of the Press Gallery, etc., as well as a large number of non-pass
holding visitors to Parliament.

 

 

You may, if dissatisfied with the handling of your request, complain to
the House of Commons. Alternatively, if you are dissatisfied with the
outcome of your request you may ask the House of Commons to conduct an
internal review of any decision regarding your request. Complaints or
requests for internal review should be addressed to: Information Rights
and Information Security Service, Research & Information Team, House of
Commons, London SW1A 0AA or [4][House of Commons request email]. Please ensure
that you specify the full reasons for your complaint or internal review
along with any arguments or points that you wish to make.

 

If you remain dissatisfied, you may appeal to the Information Commissioner
at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF,
[5]www.ico.gov.uk.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

         
Information Rights Manager
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of
Commons

 

[6]cid:image002.jpg@01D02B64.34D76640

Click [7]here for information about FOI in the House of Commons,

or to see what we publish.

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: richard [mailto:[FOI #443660 email]]
Sent: 06 November 2017 13:48
To: FOI Commons <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Alcohol subsidies

 

Dear House of Commons,

 

What is the amount of UK tax used to subsidize alcohol at the Houses of
Parliament?

 

Yours faithfully,

 

richard

 

UK Parliament Disclaimer: This e-mail is confidential to the intended
recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and
delete it from your system. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying
is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no
liability is accepted for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by
this e-mail. This e-mail address is not secure, is not encrypted and
should not be used for sensitive data.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://www.parliament.uk/site-informati...
3. http://www.parliament.uk/site-informatio...
4. mailto:[House of Commons request email]
5. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
7. http://www.parliament.uk/site-informatio...

hide quoted sections