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Amount spent on House of Lords treats and snacks jumps by £7,000 in two years

The amount of money spent by the House of Lords on biscuits and other confectionaries has gone up by roughly £7,000 over the last two years.

A freedom of Information request shows that the House of Lords spent nearly £9,000 on purchasing biscuits and other confectionaries in 2021/22, with this figure then doubling to just over £16,000 in 2023/24. 

The items that the House of Lords have been purchasing include products such as Divine Chocolate, Marlow Biscuits selections, Eat Real Quineo sour cream and Walkers crisps. 

A spokesperson for the House of Lords said: “These products are sold mostly in our two cafeterias. Therefore, the expenditure is linked directly to demand.”

The Lords added that their sales of these confectionaries are a reflection of a relevant increase and the costs as such would do the same.

They emphasised that while their catering outlets were operating under Covid restrictions and the number of people on site were limited, they saw a drop in the number of their sales. 

The factor of food cost inflation also played a part in the cost of the products that they bought from their suppliers, which in 2022/23 reached peak levels of over 19% which the Lords stated was a 45 year high. 

The House of Commons has also seen a significant increase in the amount of money they have spent on biscuits and other confectionaries, with figures nearly returning to pre-Covid levels. 

In 2019/2020 the Commons spent nearly £54,000 on biscuits and confectionaries. 

During the pandemic however, the Commons saw a decrease in their spending, dropping to just under £10,000. 

A spokesperson from the House of Commons said: “All biscuits the House of Commons purchases are sold at above cost price in cafeterias, cafes and events across the Parliamentary estate, or as part of pre-booked events packages – including to the over one million visitors received each year.”

As Covid restrictions eased, there was a 73% increase in the amount spent by the Commons on confectionaries, going from over £23,000 in 2021/2022 to over £40,000 in 2022/23. 

In the last financial year of 2023/24, the Commons have spent over £51,000 on biscuits and over confectionaries, almost returning to pre-Covid levels. 

Some of the items purchased by the Commons included Cadbury chocolates, Biscuit Luxury Selection, Ella Protein Balls, Kind Bars and Jaffa Jonuts.

Picture credit: Stockvault

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