Petition · past parliament
Cancel parliamentary food and drink subsidies with immediate effect
Rejected
21 signatures
What the petition asks
All food and drink subsidies should be removed from every MP who voted to prevent children from accessing free meals during school holidays under the Coronavirus pandemic.
Today the government voted to prevent poor children from accessing free meals during school holidays until Easter 2021. Yet those same MPs enjoy daily subsidised meals and drink in the House of Commons. It is an abominable act of the utmost cruelty to deprive our most vulnerable humans of basic sustenance; and it demonstrates a toxic Schadenfreude when these same MPs continue to enjoy food handouts paid by taxpayers. We value our children. We demand an end to this parliamentary freeloading.
Why it was rejected
It was not clear what the petition asked 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 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.
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: Increase food and drink prices for MPs in House of Commons catering venues
Fund free school meals over school holidays until April 2021: Fund free school meals over school holidays until April 2021
Provide the free school meal entitlement throughout the year: Provide the free school meal entitlement throughout the year.
End child food poverty – no child should be going hungry: End child food poverty – no child should be going hungry
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 petitions, which you might like to sign:
Increase food and drink prices for MPs in House of Commons catering venues: Increase food and drink prices for MPs in House of Commons catering venues
Fund free school meals over school holidays until April 2021: Fund free school meals over school holidays until April 2021
Provide the free school meal entitlement throughout the year: Provide the free school meal entitlement throughout the year.
End child food poverty – no child should be going hungry: End child food poverty – no child should be going hungry
Timeline
| 21 Oct 2020 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 30 Oct 2020 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
21
Status
Rejected
Rejected
30 Oct 2020
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.