Submitted on Thursday 22nd October 2020
Rejected on Friday 30th October 2020
Current status: Rejected
Rejection code: no-action (see below for details)
Stop the Catering Subsidy of £3 Million in The Houses of Parliament for MPs
£57,000 a week of our taxes subsidise food and drinks including alcohol for politicians across both houses.
Houses of Commons and Lords bars, canteens and restaurants costs taxpayers nearly £3 million to fund each year for 650 current and 342 former MPs, staff and guests.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has warned of “hard choices” as the current national borrowing surging as Covid pushes national debt to record £2.024 trillion.
This petition proposes that:
1. Taxpayer money are no longer used to subsidise these establishments so they are not funded out of the public purse.
2. The prices are increased to reflect this across all bars, canteens and restaurants so that they can still generate revenue.
3. The taxpayer money saved be used to address child food poverty.
You can't sign this petition because it was rejected. But you can still comment on it here at Repetition.me!
The Government e-Petitions Team gave the following reason:
Catering services for the House of Commons are provided by an in-house team who do not provide a subsidised service, though the cost of running the service means that it runs at a loss. It is important to note that while in some venues the cost of providing the service exceeds the income received in sales, other venues in the Commons make a profit which contributes to reducing overall costs. 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
We could accept a petition calling on the House of Commons to close all catering venues that operate at a loss, if that's what you want to happen.
Catering in the House of Lords is a matter for that House, not the Government or House of Commons.
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