Have you ever wondered how much money your council spends on tea, coffee, biscuits, and lunch during its meetings?

It is an important question to ask.

As the UK grapples with the cost-of-living crisis and inflation, the average price of food and non-alcoholic drinks have seen their sharpest increase in more than 45 years.

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Many of those struggling across Oxfordshire have turned to food banks, with one bank seeing demand rise by 50 per cent.

Therefore, the use of public money to pay for food and refreshments at council meetings is an issue that requires transparency.

Following a Freedom of Information request, the Oxford Mail can reveal how much cash was spent by councils from May 1, 2022, to May 1, 2023.

The request asked for the cost of tea, biscuits, and any other food or refreshments provided at the meetings of all six councils - excluding parish and town - in Oxfordshire.

This included South Oxfordshire District Council, Vale of White Horse District Council, Cherwell District Council, Oxford City Council, West Oxfordshire District Council, and Oxfordshire County Council.

As the authority for the entire county, with the highest number of councillors, it is understandable that Oxfordshire County Council spent more than the other five councils.

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The county council provides lunch at meetings of the full council, and in six full council meetings over the last year, the total cost for this was £5335.21.

Additionally, £2169.86 was spent at seven meetings of the Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee on lunch or any food.

However, the county council could not give a figure for the cost of tea and coffee, which have been supplied at around 100 meetings over the last year.

These supplies come from overall supplies at County Hall, and the council said it was ‘not possible to separate the cost for council meetings from the overall cost for the whole building.’

South Oxfordshire District Council spent £354.52 on food and refreshments in three meetings over the last year.

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A fourth meeting saw the council claim back £27.50 from the Food Standards Agency.

Vale of White Horse District Council did not have any meetings where tea, biscuits, or any other food or refreshment was supplied.

However, in four joint meetings between the Vale and South Oxfordshire councils, each shelled out £1,263.93 on food and refreshments, and, in 10 joint meetings between all six councils in Oxfordshire, both Vale and South Oxfordshire councils paid £737.43 each.

Oxford City Council spent no money on food or refreshments as no meetings were held where the provisions were supplied.

West Oxfordshire District Council and Cherwell District Council did not respond to the Freedom of Information request.