Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

(asked on 13th December 2022) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500, for what purpose (a) £1,800 was spent at The Corinthia Hotel on 21 March 2022, (b) £2,138.06 was spent at Stanley’s Chelsea on 28 June 2022, and (c) £622.69 was spent at The Waterfront Brasserie on 26 July 2022, and whether any of those events included any expenditure on alcoholic beverages.


Answered by
David Rutley Portrait
David Rutley
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 4th January 2023

Hospitality has long been an important part of building relations and diplomacy. The cost at the Corinthia related to a UK-hosted lunch during the inaugural meeting of the committee which oversees and governs implementation of the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement. The meeting was an opportunity to build relationships with key ministers and senior officials from the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The event at Stanley's was part of the UK hosted "Mozambique in the UK week". The event helped progress £1 billion of exports and investments in energy, mining, renewables and telecom infrastructure.

The Waterfront Brasserie event was hospitality provided to a high-level delegation from the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security visiting Police and the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Expenditure was subject to normal FCDO controls and an appropriate use of public money.

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