Council's alcohol spend
Dear Orkney Islands Council,
I am sending this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to ask for the following information on the breakdown of costs associated with the spend of alcohol at your organisation.
I am requesting information about how much your organisation has spent on alcohol since 1st April 2018 and the type of events it has purchased the alcohol for.
I am looking for all spending relating to alcohol regardless of where the event was held or who attended.
Please provide me with a list of events where alcohol has been purchased.
Please include the date of the event, a brief description of the nature/purpose of the event and the amount spent of alcohol for the event i.e.:
Date of event
Description/Nature of event
Alcohol spend
Please provide a copy of your alcohol/drug staff policy
Please provide a copy of your finance policy/procedure detailing how alcohol may be purchased.
Can the provided in a format that is accessible and understandable, such as in spreadsheets or itemised lists.
If you are able to supply some of this information more quickly than other items, please supply each item as soon as it becomes available.
If it is necessary for any reason to redact any information, please redact the minimum necessary and send me the rest of the document(s), explaining the legal grounds for each redaction.
Under FOI guidelines you have twenty working days to answer these questions. Please acknowledge receipt of this request.
If you are not the right person to deal with this request, please would you pass it to the appropriate colleague and ask them to deal with it.
Yours faithfully,
Jennifer Jones
Classification: NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
Dear Madam
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 – Request for Information
Thank you for your information request dated 31 October 2023 and received on 1 November 2023. Our reference is FOI 2023-1140. This is being dealt with under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
We are considering your request. We may be in touch soon to ask for further clarification or to offer advice and assistance if we are not able to fulfil your request in its present form.
The legislation allows us up to 20 working days from the date that we receive a valid request, including any clarification we need to make a final response. We will be in touch within 20 working days of receipt of your initial request to provide our response or to seek clarification where necessary. We hope to give you the information you are looking for at an earlier date if possible.
Regards
Katy Russell-Duff
Committees Officer/FOI Practitioner
Strategy, Performance and Business Solutions
Orkney Islands Council
Council Offices, School Place, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NY
Telephone (01856) 873535 Extension 2239
Classification: NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
Dear Madam
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 – Request for Information
I refer to your email dated 31 October 2023 and received on 1 November 2023, our reference is FOI 2023-1140.
I am pleased to give the information you requested and hope that it meets your requirements.
Please provide me with a list of events where alcohol has been purchased.
Please include the date of the event, a brief description of the nature/purpose of the event and the amount spent of alcohol for the event i.e.: Please see attached spreadsheet.
Please provide a copy of your alcohol/drug staff policy Please see attached
Please provide a copy of your finance policy/procedure detailing how alcohol may be purchased. N/A
Staff cannot claim alcohol via employee expenses and that is detailed in the Policy and Guidance.
Can the provided in a format that is accessible and understandable, such as in spreadsheets or itemised lists.
Our Hospitality department at Orkney College uses alcohol in the preparation of some dishes and in cocktail making as part of their courses. These costs are not recorded separately and there are approximately 5000 invoices from April 2018. We have estimated that it would take approximately 500 hours to identify alcohol on the invoices (500 x £15 per hour - £7,500). Providing this information would exceed the upper cost limit prescribed in regulations made by the Scottish Ministers and is refused under Section 12(1).
Date of event 28th September 2018
Description/Nature of event Departmental celebratory event prior to Graduation Ceremony for graduates and their families who have travelled from all over the world to attend graduation in Orkney
Alcohol spend Total Expenditure £21.50
Date of event: 24 September 2019
Description/Nature of event: Scapa Pathfinder naming ceremony. Champagne/prosecco purchased for pouring on bow of vessel.
Alcohol spend: £7.85
Date of event 27th September 2019
Description/Nature of event Departmental celebratory event prior to Graduation Ceremony for graduates and their families who have travelled from all over the world to attend graduation in Orkney
Alcohol spend Total Expenditure £21.50
Date of event 25th September 2020
Description/Nature of event Departmental celebratory event prior to Graduation Ceremony for graduates and their families who have travelled from all over the world to attend graduation in Orkney
Alcohol spend Total Expenditure £22.50
Date of event 24th September 2021
Description/Nature of event Departmental celebratory event prior to Graduation Ceremony for graduates and their families who have travelled from all over the world to attend graduation in Orkney
Alcohol spend Total Expenditure £22.50
Date of event: 10th June 2022
Description/Nature of event: Annual Degree Exhibition opening event
Alcohol spend: c £120.00
Date of event 30th September 2022
Description/Nature of event Graduation Ceremony reception
Alcohol spend Total Expenditure £378.36
Date of event 30th September2022
Description/Nature of event Departmental celebratory event prior to Graduation Ceremony for graduates and their families who have travelled from all over the world to attend graduation in Orkney
Alcohol spend Total Expenditure £22.50
Date of event: 15 May 2023
Description/Nature of event: Freyja of Scapa naming ceremony. Champagne/prosecco purchased for pouring on bow of vessel.
Alcohol spend: £18.58
Date of event: 8th June 2023
Description/Nature of event: Annual Degree Exhibition opening event
Alcohol spend: £130.20
Date of event 29th September 2023
Description/Nature of event Departmental celebratory event prior to Graduation Ceremony for graduates and their families who have travelled from all over the world to attend graduation in Orkney
Alcohol spend Total Expenditure £22.50
Date of event 29th September 2023
Description/Nature of event Graduation Ceremony reception
Alcohol spend Total Expenditure £254.02
For Meals and Hospitality it has been used for invoices for alcohol but again the invoice may also include soft drinks as well so not easy to separate out.
Under FOISA, if you are dissatisfied with our response, you may ask the Council to review its handling of your request. If you wish to do this, you should make your request for review within 40 working days of receiving this email. Please make your request for review to Service Manager (Governance), Council Offices, School Place, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NY or email to [Orkney Islands Council request email]. Your request must be in permanent form (letter, email, audio tape etc) and should state:
That you are asking for a review of this decision, and
Why you are unhappy with the response you have received.
We will issue a full response to your request for review within 20 working days of our receiving it.
Where the outcome of the review fails to resolve the matter to your complete satisfaction, you then have the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision. You have six months in which to do so following receipt of our review outcome – see www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal.
Regards
Paul Kesterton
Information Governance Officer
Strategy, Performance & Business Solutions
Orkney Islands Council, Council Offices, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NY
Telephone: 01856 873535 Extension: 2241
www.orkney.gov.uk
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