The BBC spent nearly ?230,000 on tea last year, including almost ?50,000 for teabags in staff kitchenettes.
The figures, which were disclosed by the corporation pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request, also showed that nearly ?180,000 was spent on cups of tea for meetings in the year 2009/10.
?BBC Policy allows for the provision of tea in meetings where the meeting needs to be for two hours or longer or when entertaining a person or organisation from outside the BBC,? said BBC executive John Pickles in responding the to FOI request. ?Because of the way orders are recorded it is not always possible to say exactly how much of a hospitality request relates to tea, but using available information I estimate that around ?179,500 was spent on tea for meetings in the year 2009/10.?
Mr Pickles said that the BBC has over 300 properties throughout the UK. ?In some of our buildings we also have kitchenettes where tea bags are available for staff to make their own cups of tea,? he explained. ?Unfortunately we do not hold central records of expenditure for all locations, but using available information I estimate that in 2009/10 the BBC spent ?49,800 on tea for kitchenettes.?
The revelations follow the recent disclosure that the BBC spends ?2,000 a year on biscuits. At the time, a BBC spokesman said: ?It is not possible to separate how much of this was just for chocolate digestives.?
Well at list we now know were our TV licence fee is spent.
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