Drink Spend (2022)
Request
• The amount of money spent on drinks in House of Commons bars through 2021.
• This information should be broken down by bar and also by month if possible.
Response
This information is held by the House of Commons.
We hold information about sales in catering venues classified as ‘bars'.
Please note the following in relation to this data:
• These figures include the sales of hot drinks, water and soft drinks.
• These figures include VAT.
• If there are no sales for a particular month, it means that the venues selling alcoholic drinks were closed or that alcoholic drinks were not sold in line with Covid-19 lockdown rules.
It may help you to know that, aside from periods where Covid-19 lockdown rules were in force, the parliamentary estate and its catering venues are open to around 15,000 passholders. This includes Members of Parliament, their staff, House staff, civil servants, contractors, Peers, members of the Press Gallery and others. Catering venues are also open to a large number of non-pass holding visitors to Parliament. In addition, please note that the majority of alcohol sales are made in outlets that generate a profit, therefore reducing total catering costs.
Please also note that some venues on the parliamentary estate are the responsibility of the House of Lords, which is a separate public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). You may therefore wish to consider forwarding your request to the House of Lords.