relating to council spending
Case reference FOI2026/00742
Received 2 April 2026
Published 5 May 2026
Request
Please find an FOI relating to council spending below:
Subject: Freedom of Information Request – Discretionary Expenditure and Hospitality Costs
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
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:
* The name or description of the service/project
* The total amount spent in that financial year
* A brief description of what the expenditure relates to
3. Please provide the total amount spent by the council on alcohol, including:
* Alcohol purchased for events, functions, or hospitality
* Alcohol purchased using council funds, expenses, or procurement systems
4. 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.
Response
Please find the answers to your queries below:
Please find an FOI relating to council spending below:
Subject: Freedom of Information Request – Discretionary Expenditure and Hospitality Costs
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
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.
2024/25
Commercial Services – £4,365,428.36.
Environmental Services – £2,280,704.60.
Community Services – £2,153,676.71.
2. For each of these three areas, please provide:
The name or description of the service/project.
The total amount spent in that financial year.
* A brief description of what the expenditure relates to.
Commercial Services – this includes tourism, culture and heritage, theatres and museums, Guildhall, leisure facilities (e.g. Guildford Spectrum / Guildford Lido / Ash Manor Sports Centre / outdoor gyms), events, park and ride facilities, CCTV and car parks repairs and maintenance.
Environmental Services – this includes parks and gardens, sports grounds, playgrounds, trees & countryside, parks infrastructure, parks ranger service, recreation grounds, allotments and public conveniences/toilets.
Community Services – this includes community halls, youth and children's centres, community grants scheme, community meals service, community safety and wellbeing teams, The Hive, community development, community transport, family support programmes, traveller/caravan sites repair & maintenance and refugee support.
3. Please provide the total amount spent by the council on alcohol, including:
* Alcohol purchased for events, functions, or hospitality;
* Alcohol purchased using council funds, expenses, or procurement systems.
Whilst we do have a spending category titled ‘Alcohol and entertainment licensing’, this is not the same as ‘alcohol expenditure’ (as it relates to Regulatory Services expenditure in relation to licensing for alcohol and entertainment venues). The only categories we hold that might be relevant are ‘Events’ and also ‘The Mayor’s Charitable Events’ – both of these categories may include some alcohol expenditure within the wider costs, but we do not hold a breakdown of the specifics of what the spending went on (i.e. alcohol / food / venue hire etc) as everything is recorded under the wider heading of ‘Events’.
4. If possible, please also provide a breakdown of this figure by category (e.g. events, civic hospitality, staff functions).
I can confirm that in 2024/25 a total of £8,620.60 was spent under the category of The Mayor’s Charitable Events for the benefit of The Fountain Centre. More information about this event can be found on our website:
https://www.guildford.gov.uk/article/27099/The-Mayor-launches-adult-charity-football-tournament
Additionally, in 2024/25 a total of £35,267.73 was spent under the category of ‘Events’, broken down as follows:
£1,910 – advertising, publicity and promotion.
£8,220.38 – equipment (e.g. replacement parts from trade stores needed for repairs / noticeboards / posters / flags / bunting). N.B. £4,950 of this amount was spent with Apply4 Technology Ltd, which is an online platform allowing digital permitting solutions and online event application and approval to streamline the application and permitting processes for customers.
£15,122.64 – which includes money spent on hire of, or grants to, organisations such as Surrey Outdoor Learning and Development, Odin Events Ltd, Flying Colours Entertainment Ltd, Wayward Directions Ltd, Geared Up Cycles Ltd, Big Foot Events Ltd and Wysch Productions Ltd in relation to events hosted across the Borough (e.g. Guildford Green Day / Guildford Walkfest / heritage open days / the Guildford book festival / the Festive Family Fun day / car free day / Guildford castle grounds bandstand concerts etc).
£4,675 – spent on asset repair and maintenance.
£5,339.71 – spent on printing, photocopying and reprographics.
Please note that a grant of £58,830.22 was also given to the Rural Prosperity Fund in 2024/25, to support the cost of the renovation of the Hogs Back Brewery tap room, however this was not related to alcohol for events.
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.
It is possible that some of the expenditure for the Mayor’s Charitable Events may include some spending on alcohol, however we do not hold this information in a searchable format.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
Guildford Borough Council
Documents
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