Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister
“Confirmation to me in the Assembly Answer below that almost £300,000 of public money has been paid out in the last year to subsidise catering services in Stormont will, I believe, rightly raise questions as to why public money continues to be squandered on this project.
“With the public subsidy totalling £290,909.77 for Sept 16 – August 17, it is running at over £1000 per day for every day the facilities are open. The fact that the Assembly isn’t sitting has not altered the arrangement whereby the subsidy meter continues to run. Yet, it seems, the Assembly Commission has taken no steps to address this situation. The public are simply expected to pay up and look cheery. It could only happen in Stormont.”
AQW 4/17-22
Mr Jim Allister
Traditional Unionist Voice
North Antrim
Tabled Date: 25/09/2017
Answered On Date: 10/10/2017
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Assembly Commission to detail the monthly level of catering subsidy for each month in the last 12 months.
Answer:
The Commission requires that catering services are provided during business hours and for events / functions. Where the cost of providing these services exceeds the monies taken in, the extra cost is incurred by the Assembly. This operating cost is sometimes referred to as a subsidy.
The table below sets out the overall operating cost for catering for each month in the last 12 months (September 2016 to August 2017 – the figures for September 2017 are not yet available).
Month Catering Operating Cost
September 2016 £23,879.80
October 2016 £11,643.53
November 2016 £26,872.26
December 2016 £14,861.82
January 2017 £34,789.41
February 2017 £30,463.58
March 2017 £22,044.92
April 2017 £31,745.86
May 2017 £22,538.16
June 2017 £9,037.14
July 2017 £34,065.70
August 2017 £28,967.59