02/12/2010
1. Can you provide details of spending on hospitality (this includes meals, hotels, entertainment) by the former Auditor General Jeremy Colman and Anthony Snow (former Chief Operating Officer) using their own Government Procurement Card (GPC) (which I understand operates as a credit card) and bookings made on their behalf using a GPC card? The details should include the name and location of any restaurants, hotels etc. This should be for the 2008-09 and [2009-10] financial years.
2. Could you also provide details of any offers of hospitality taken up by Mr Colman or Mr Snow during this period e.g. Rugby internationals?
3. Could you also provide details of any premium rate calls made by either person for the same period?
For item 1, please see the attached copies of spreadsheets GPC hospitality spend AGW & COO 2008-09 and GPC hospitality spend AGW & COO 2009-10, which meet your request. These sheets contain details collated from our financial records. The amounts given are shown net of personal reimbursements.
For item 2, please see the attached copies of spreadsheets Extract from hospitality register and Hospitality received by Jeremy Colman, which meet your request. The latter contains details collated from various records, such as invitations.
In certain places in the attached copies of spreadsheets you will find noted [staff names redacted] or similar notes. This indicates that we hold further information, but I am withholding it because it falls within the personal information exemption (section 40(2) of the 2000 Act), which is an absolute exemption. The exemption applies because disclosure would breach the data protection principles of the Data Protection Act 1998.
In other places, you will find bold text in square brackets. Such text is explanatory material intended to provide clarification, and it is not recorded information held at the time we received your request.
For item 3, we do not hold information meeting this description. Our records indicate that no premium rate calls were made.