Submitted on Thursday 22nd October 2020
Rejected on Tuesday 3rd November 2020
Current status: Rejected
Rejection code: duplicate (see below for details)
End tax payer subsidised bars and restaurants in the Palace of Westminster
In this current economic climate and approaching financial crisis and accompanying austerity program I would like you to stop using public monies to subsidise food and drink in the houses of Parliament.
You have voted against helping to feed the poorest kids in school holidays at a time when the majority of the public in the UK are already under great financial strain due to years of austerity, the current pandemic and all the restrictions associated. We can no longer (never actually could) afford to subsidise a section of society, however small, that is mostly made up of very wealthy individuals and entirely of people earning more than the average UK wage.
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The Government e-Petitions Team gave the following reason:
There's already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.
You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.
We have published the following petitions, which you might like to sign:
Increase food and drink prices for MPs in House of Commons catering venues: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/555565
Increase food and drink prices in House of Commons catering venues: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/555947
Fund free school meals over school holidays until April 2021: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/555727
Provide the free school meal entitlement throughout the year: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/555723
End child food poverty – no child should be going hungry: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/554276
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.
Catering and expenses in the House of Lords is a matter for that House, not the Government or House of Commons.
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