This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Scrap subsidised food & drink for Members of Parliament inc the House of Lords.
Parliament voted against subsidising food for children throughout October half term and the Christmas period, yet MP's and unelected peers are still content to consume food and drink that is subsidised by tax payers, and proving unequivocally that it is one rule for them and another for UK citizens.
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In the interests of fairness, if MP's are unwilling to help the poorest in our communities, then why should those who work under zero hours contracts, minimum wage contracts and struggle day-to-day subsidise the food and drink of both elected and unelected officials earning far more than them?
This petition calls for an end to subsidised food and drink in Parliament and redistribution of those monies to feeding children in poor communities.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.
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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: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/555565
Increase food and drink prices in House of Commons catering venues: https://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: https://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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