FOI 44-25: Information in regards to the total subsidy for catering in each of Parliament Buildings' canteens, bars and dining rooms in each year since 2020

Information Standards Freedom of Information Response

29 July 2025
Our ref: FoI 44-25

Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”)

I am writing to confirm that the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) has processed your request dated 7 July 2025 in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). In your request, you asked:

“Please provide

1. The total subsidy for catering in each of Parliament Buildings' canteens, bars and dining rooms in each year since 2020.
   
   
2. Please provide a separate breakdown for the period when the Assembly was not sitting (February 2022 to January 2024)”

Our response

Question 1

The Assembly Commission requires that catering services for all building users, including the public, are provided during business hours and for events and functions.

When the cost of providing catering services exceeds the revenue generated from food and drink sales, the Assembly Commission incurs the operating cost in accordance with the contractual arrangements in place. This cost is sometimes referred to as a subsidy.

Due to the nature of the contract, it is not possible to provide a breakdown of costs for each individual catering outlet.

The following table sets out the catering operating cost as requested.

Question 2

During the period between February 2022 to January 2024 the Assembly sat on a number of occasions. It sat on 20 occasions during February and March 2022, prior to the Assembly’s dissolution for the election. It sat on a further 7 occasions after the election in May 2022 before resuming normal business on 4 February 2024. During the period between February 2022 to January 2024, the catering operating cost was £586,676.58.

Further Information

You have the right to request an internal review of this decision by the Assembly Commission.  If you wish to request such a review, please write to me at the above address.  If, after that review, you are dissatisfied with the way in which the Assembly Commission has handled your request for information, you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Your request for information and our response may be published in the disclosure log maintained by the Assembly Commission under a publication scheme agreed with the ICO. The request and our response will be anonymised. 

Yours sincerely

INFORMATION STANDARDS