I would like to request the following information for the most recent full financial year available:

1. The three highest individual areas of expenditure that the council classifies as discretionary or non-statutory (i.e. services or spending not required by law), ranked by total annual spend.

2. For each of these three areas, please provide:
o The name or description of the service/project
o The total amount spent in that financial year
o A brief description of what the expenditure relates to

3. Please provide the total amount spent by the council on alcohol, including:
o Alcohol purchased for events, functions, or hospitality
o Alcohol purchased using council funds, expenses, or procurement systems

If possible, please also provide a breakdown of this figure by category (e.g. events, civic hospitality, staff functions).
If the council does not hold a specific category for alcohol expenditure, please provide the closest available information, such as hospitality or event catering costs where alcohol is included.

If it is not possible to provide this information within cost limits, please:
• Provide a summary or partial response within the cost limit, and/or
• Advise how the request could be refined to fall within the cost limit.

I would like to request the following information for the most recent full financial year available:

1. The three highest individual areas of expenditure that the council classifies as discretionary or non-statutory (i.e. services or spending not required by law), ranked by total annual spend. For each of these three areas, please provide:
o The name or description of the service/project
o The total amount spent in that financial year
o A brief description of what the expenditure relates to
The council does not, nor is it required to, record its expenditure on a statutory/non-statutory basis. Therefore, we cannot provide an answer

2. Please provide the total amount spent by the council on alcohol, including:
o Alcohol purchased for events, functions, or hospitality
o Alcohol purchased using council funds, expenses, or procurement systems

Our Finance department can confirm that neither myself nor my team have purchased alcohol in any capacity on behalf of the Council
The Mayor holds a small celebratory event once they have been appointed, but this is private function and any alcohol that may be served is purchased personally by the Mayor. When the leadership team attend an awards event, again, any alcohol purchased is paid for by those individuals, not the Council.