Food Programmes (Hansard, 20 February 1989)

§ 30. Ms. Walley
To ask the Lord President of the Council how much money has been allocated to introduce healthy and nutritious food programmes covering the Members' and Strangers' Cafeterias.

§ Mr. Wakeham
The Refreshment Department retains the services of a qualified nutritional adviser on an ad hoc basis, whose fees are paid from the trading account. It is the continuing policy of the Department always to maintain and, where possible, to improve the nutritional content of food served in the. House. However, no money has been allocated specifically for this purpose.

§ Ms. Walley
I thank the Lord President for that answer. Now that the Commission has turned down the unanimous decision of the Catering Sub-Committee to invite the London food commission to give advice on how healthy and nutritious the food in the Members' arid Strangers' Cafeterias is, what will the Leader of the House do to improve the situation? Does he not realise that many Members on both sides of the House and many staff who work here have to eat morning, noon and night in those cafeterias, and that there is a desperate need to take on the services of people who are qualified and at the forefront of their field in this subject?

§ Mr. Wakeham
I am not sure that the hon. Lady's views are fully shared by all hon. Members or, indeed, by all members of the Sub-Committee. It is not the Commission's policy to disclose the reasons for its decisions, and I can only assume that the Commission prefer the Refreshment Department's current practices, which were designed to promote healthy and nutritious food in the House.

§ Sir Fergus Montgomery
Is my right hon. Friend aware that the London food commission is not a body of recognised dietary experts but a Left-wing organisation?

§ Mr. Wakeham
My hon. Friend's analysis is correct. As I understand it, the London food commission is a consumerist pressure group staffed by academics and investigative journalists. It has no expertise in advising on dietary matters. In addition, its future is uncertain, as the original funding from the GLC is known to be running short. As far as I know, the commission has not found any other source of funding so far.

§ Mr. Dobson
Setting aside the Lord President's snide references to the London food commission, which has done a considerable amount of good work, I ask him whether, instead of being so complacent, he would be prepared to undertake a thoughtful and organised survey of the views of hon. Members and of the other people who have to use the cafeterias in this place—

§ Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman
They are jolly good.

§ Mr. Dobson
Some Conservative Members may think so, but many people think they are flaming lousy.

§ Mr. Wakeham
I do not accept what the hon. Gentleman says. I did not think my remarks were particularly snide; I thought they were straightforward and factual. If there were a need for a review or anything of that sort the initiative would have to come first from the Catering Sub-Committee.

§ Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman
May I inform my right hon. Friend Friend that I lunch in the cafeteria every day? I have the sense to choose nutritious, healthy food, and I am lasting pretty well.

§ Mr. Wakeham
My hon. Friend makes her point effectively.