Question

To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much money is now owed by (a) hon. Members and (b) former hon Members for unpaid catering and hospitality bills at the House of Commons (i) in total, and (ii) as a proportion of the turnover of catering and hospitality in the House of Commons; and what steps the Commission is taking to ensure the collection of those debts.

The House of Commons has a debt management process regarding the recovery of monies owed by all parties. In relation to Members’ catering accounts, all sums due are expected to be settled within six weeks. Statements are sent out monthly and undisputed amounts owed are charged ten days later to the Members nominated card. Any amounts outstanding after the settlement date are followed up by emails, letters and telephone calls.

As shown in table 1, a total sum of £440 currently outstanding against catering and banqueting accounts is related to Member expenditure. There are no amounts outstanding in relation to former Members.

Table 2 sets out the outstanding amounts owed to the House, broken into Member and non-member categories, where non-members consist of trade and internal customers.