This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Stop subsidising food and drink in the Houses of Parliament by the tax payer.
Stop using taxpayers money to subsidise food and drink in the Houses of Parliament.
More details
The country and more importantly the public are facing a cost of living crisis and some are using food banks, why should taxpayers fund food and drink for MPs and Lords who are well paid and wealthy.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.
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 exceeds the income received in sales due to the irregular hours and unpredictability of parliamentary business.
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 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/
It is up to the House of Lords what payments to make to members of the House of Lords. Whether tax has to be paid on any payments will depend on the type of payment made.
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