Closed petition Abolish the subsidy on food and drink in the Palace of Westminster restaurants.

Petition progress

View all updates for this petition, with the most recent first.

• 12 August 2018

  Petition closed

• 18 April 2018

  Parliament did not debate this petition

  The Committee has made the following statement on its decision:

  “The Petitions Committee has decided not to schedule a debate on this petition.
  
  This is because the petition is based on a misunderstanding. It argues that the cost of food and drink in Parliament should be higher, because MPs are well paid.
  
  It’s not only MPs who can buy food and drink in the House of Commons. Catering services are also available to everyone else who works in the House of Commons, including staff who earn lower wages and work irregular hours. Some outlets are also available to visitors and members of the public. MPs make up only a very small proportion of the people who can buy food and drink in Parliament.
  
  You can find out more about the cost of catering in the House of Commons here:
  
  https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/foi/transparency-publications/hoc-transparency-publications/catering-services/transparency-reporting-catering-services/”

• 6 April 2018

  Government responded to this petition

  Responsibility for catering in the House of Commons is a
  matter for the House of Commons Commission, not for the Government. The House of Commons Commission is working to reduce catering costs.

  Read the response in full

  Decisions relating to the budget for, and charges within, the House of Commons Catering Services are matters for which the House of Commons have overall responsibility, and not the Government.

  The House of Commons Authorities have outlined that 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. As shown in their transparency publication
  ( https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/foi/transparency-publications/hoc-transparency-publications/catering-services/transparency-reporting-catering-services/) these costs have fallen considerably over the last two Parliaments and have halved since 2010.

  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.

  Although the responsibility for the catering service is that of the House of Commons, and not the Government, the Leader of the House of Commons is personally committed to keeping these costs as low as possible.

  Leader of the House

• 2 April 2018

  This petition will be considered for debate in Parliament

  This petition got more than 100,000 signatures meaning the Petitions Committee will consider it for debate in Parliament.

• 15 March 2018

  Government will respond to this petition

  This petition got more than 10,000 signatures meaning that government will respond to it.

• 12 February 2018

  Petition published

  This petition can now be signed.

  If this petition gets 10,000 signatures, government will respond to it.

  If this petition gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

  This petition will stay open until 12 August 2018.