Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on (a) accommodation, (b) taxis or private cars and (c) alcoholic beverages in the last year.

The Department for Work and Pensions incurred expenditure in the following categories in the financial year 2013/14:

c) The provision of alcoholic drinks at public expense may be provided only in exceptional circumstances with the express, prior, written permission of specific named senior civil servants. As the purchase of alcohol is exceptional, there is no separate finance code to identify this spend and therefore this information can only be provided at disproportionate costs to the Department.