Submitted on Saturday 24th October 2020
Rejected on Tuesday 3rd November 2020
Current status: Rejected
Rejection code: duplicate (see below for details)
No public money for parliamentary employee meals; overhaul the expenses system.
We the electorate demand an end to the practice of Parliament paying expenses claims to Parliamentarians for Food and Drink.
The act of providing subsidised food and drink within Parliament catering establishments must end.
MPs have voted against extending free school meals into the holidays for the poorest children in the UK, in the middle of a pandemic. They should under no circumstances benefit from free or subsidised meals out of public funds themselves. If the public purse cannot afford to feed the poorest in our society, why are we feeding those least in need? Already well paid public servants, set to receive yet another generous pay increase, whilst millions face hardship, job losses and poverty, do not need the public to pay for their food and drink. Public funds should be spent on those most in need of them.
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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
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.
The UK Government and Parliament aren't responsible for setting MPs' pay or expenses. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is responsible for deciding on MPs' expenses and pay. IPSA is independent of both Parliament and Government.
You can find out more about IPSA here: www.theipsa.org.uk/about-us/
MPs may claim for the cost of purchasing food and non-alcoholic drinks where they have stayed overnight outside the London Area and their constituency. This is limited to £25 for each night they have stayed, but the claims can be for purchases made during the day.
18.191.33.207 Sun, 19 May 2024 13:51:31 +0100
