Submitted on Sunday 11th October 2020
Rejected on Friday 30th October 2020
Current status: Rejected
Rejection code: no-action (see below for details)
Remove the subsidy on alcohol within Parliamentary Bars.
It is is innapropriate for MP's to have alcohol subsidised as it encourages alcohol abuse. MP's should vote with their conscience and with a clear head and remove the subsidy on alcohol within the Houses of Parliament
The Government is quick to condemn "drinking cultures" within the Armed Forces, Police and other high stress employments. However, the Houses of Parliament are one of the few organisations that provides a subsidy on the sale of alcohol. Acknowleging that Parliamentarians can work irregular hours and food is subsidised to reflect that, there is no justification for alcohol to be consumed and subsidised as part of Parliamentary duties.
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The Government e-Petitions Team gave the following reason:
The House of Commons Catering service does not provide a subsidised service in the commercial sense of the word. Some venues make a profit, while in other venues the cost of providing the service does exceed the income received in sales due to the irregular hours and unpredictability of parliamentary business. The House of Commons publishes details of the cost of House of Commons catering services: www.parliament.uk/site-information/foi/transparency-publications/hoc-transparency-publications/catering-services/transparency-reporting-catering-services/
Customers of the House of Commons Catering Services include some of the 650 MPs but also around 14,500 other pass-holders, many of whom are staff on lower wages that work irregular hours. In addition, members of the public and non pass holding visitors to Parliament also have access to these services. The irregular hours and the unpredictability of Parliamentary business contribute to increasing the net cost of providing a catering service. To offset this many of the restaurants, dining room facilities and their staff, are used to cater for private events at times when they are not required by the House. This is one of a number of measures used to reduce costs.
We have published the following petition, which you might like to sign:
Increase food and drink prices for MPs in House of Commons catering venues: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/555565
13.59.205.182 Fri, 22 Nov 2024 00:51:42 +0000
