Hackney Council spent £26,863.52 on tea, biscuits and other complementary refreshments in the month of January 2020.
When asked to comment on the vast figure obtained under the 2000 Freedom of Information (FoI) Act, Hackney Council issued the following statement.
‘A major part of the spend is in respect of catering contracts at the Council’s children’s centres and costs that are not purely tea, biscuits and other complementary food and drink at Hackney council’.
When asked to break down the total sum into specific individual cost brackets, the council chose not to reply. However a similar request from the Mail on Sunday in 2019 revealed Hackney Council spent over £8,000 on just fair-trade tea and biscuits that year.
One FoI request to Birmingham City Council revealed that they had spent more than £20,000 on tea and biscuits alone from 2013-2018, while a request to Wokingham Borough Council showed that they had spent more than £20,000 on refreshments as a whole in 2017/18.
The Council’s annual budget for 2020/21 was approved at a meeting on 26 February, which included a council tax increase of 3.99% for Hackney residents. Last year, Hackney Council was forced to reduce its spending on adult social care by £2.3 million.
In 2014 neighbouring Islington Council faced criticism after it was revealed it spent £133,000 on complimentary refreshments between 2010 – 2013.
