To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 17 April 2007, Official Report, columns 564-65W, on Departments: official hospitality, how much the Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine has advised her Department to be a suitable expenditure on stock for (a) the Government cellar and (b) other hospitality for which her Department is responsible in each of the last three years. (133991)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 14 July 2006, Official Report, columns 2137-38W. The Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine (GHACPW) advises Government Hospitality according to the requirements of the Government cellar, wine market prices, the availability of individual wines and vintages and their quality. The GHACPW does not determine the level of expenditure on wines and spirits; that is the responsibility of the head of Government Hospitality. The GHACPW does not provide advice on expenditure for the purchase of wine for other hospitality carried out by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.