Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much his Department spent on (a) art, (b) wine and (c) hospitality in each of the last seven financial years for which figures are available.

a) Since 2010 the Department procured a printed portrait of Her Majesty the Queen for display in the reception of Eland House at a cost of £256.74 including VAT. This was funded from savings made by consolidating seven sets of papers and periodicals for Ministers and special advisers, delivering over £15,000 a year in on-going revenue savings. Previously the Department did not possess a portrait of Her Majesty, despite it being the legal title holder of the Government's civil estate on behalf of the crown. No artworks have been purchased by the Department in the timescale indicated.

b) Records indicate the Department spent £708 with Majestic Wine in 2010-11. There is no record of any further spend on wine in the timescale indicated.

c) I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 107801 on 24 October 2017. Spending for catering and hospitality is down to £9,822 in 2016-17 from £456,142 in 2009-10. This is a total reduction of £446,320 or 98 per cent over the years.