Departmental Plants

Mr. Hunt
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on (a) pot plants and (b) flowers in each of the last three years.

Gillian Merron
Spending on plants and flowers in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) UK estate in the last three years is as follows:

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|Plants                                                                                                               |£       |
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|February 2008 to January 2009 — (includes replacement of large external plants in the Old Admiralty Building, London)|5,343.13|
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|February 2007 to January 2008 — (includes replacement of deteriorated wooden plant boxes in Carlton Gardens)         |4,114.00|
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|February 2006 to January 2007                                                                                        |1,599.00|
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|Flowers1                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |£        |
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|February 2008 to January 2009                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |27,750.15|
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|February 2007 to January 2008                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |34,285.00|
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|February 2006 to January 2007                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |32,962.63|
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|1 Spending on flowers includes that incurred by Government Hospitality, part of the Protocol Directorate in the FCO. Government Hospitality have responsibility for the organisation of official ministerial hospitality for all Government Departments.|         |
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Information on how much is spent on plants and flowers at the FCO’s overseas posts is not held centrally and would incur a disproportionate cost to collate.