To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what quantity of (a) beers and ciders, (b) aperitifs, fortified wines and spirits and (c) wines were purchased by the Refreshment Department in each of the last three years; what the cost of these purchases was in each year; and what percentage of each of these items was imported. (131065)

Accounts have not yet been finalised for the full year ending March 2007, but estimated alcoholic beverage purchases during the 11 months to February 2007 were as follows:

Detailed purchase information is not currently available for the year 2005-06 due to technical issues that are being investigated by the software supplier. The Director of Catering Services will write to the hon. Member with the requested information when it becomes available.

The software used by the Refreshment Department does not retain historical information of purchases on a product-by-product basis for earlier years. However, I would remind the hon. Member that information about beverage purchase quantities and the percentage of imported products for the 11 months from April 2004 until February 2005 has previously been provided to him. I corrected the information originally provided by my predecessor in my letter to the hon. Member on 21 November 2005, but for ease of reference I set out in full the corrected information provided to his previous question tabled in March 2005: