In this report the Administration Committee makes proposals to cut catering costs in the House of Commons by £1.25 million by 2014 - 15, and to widen access to cafes and restaurants. Recommendations include: further proposals for future cost savings; opening restaurants and the Terrace to the public for meals or afternoon teas on days when Parliament is not sitting; a staff discount scheme; generating more income through merchandising, including a new high street shop; looking at the possibility of merging Commons and Lords catering services to save on shared costs; widening access to dining rooms, and giving journalists in the Press Gallery access to a restaurant in Portcullis House instead of their own dining room.

On cover and title page: House, committees of the whole House, general committees and select committees

House of Lords business Plan 2012/13

House of Lords business Plan 2011/12

JP

Sir John Butterfill, Mr Stephen Byers, Ms Patricia Hewitt, Mr Geoff Hoon, Mr Richard Caborn and Mr Adam Ingram : Ninth report of session 2010-11, Vol. 2: Appendices, written and oral Evidence

Britain's first Prime Minister, Robert Walpole, smuggled wine up the Thames with the help of the Navy. Tony Blair confessed that a stiff drink and half a bottle of wine a night had become a helpful crutch while in office. Joseph Stalin flushed out traitors with vodka. The disintegration of Richard Nixon and Boris Yeltsin was largely down to drink. Winston Churchill was famous for his drinking, often taking a whisky and soda first thing in the morning and champagne ritually with dinner. But why did these politicians drink and what was their tipple of choice? How did drinking shape the decisions they made? Ben Wright, political correspondent for the BBC, explores the history of alcohol within politics, from the debauched drinking practices of eighteenth-century ministers to today, often based on his own experiences supping with politicians in Westminster bars. With exclusive interviews and in-depth research, Order, Order! uses alcohol as a lens through which to meet a remarkable cast of politicians, to understand their times and discover what drove them to drink. A story of boozy bon viveurs - but with many casualties too - and the complexity of the human condition and the pull of the bottle.

Obesity and diet related illness is on the increase, fewer young people are being taught how to cook or grow food, and advertisers are targeting kids with junk food ads. At the same time the world faces growing fears about food security as the global population increases, more people eat meat and dairy, and the climate destabilises as a result of forest destruction and fossil fuel use. The Committee, in summary, recommends: stricter advertising limits on junk food marketing; food skills, such as cooking and gardening, should be part of the curriculum in all schools; new national planning policy guidance for Local Authorities should ensure communities have access to healthy food and land to grow their own produce; Government Buying Standards for food must be improved on meat and dairy and extended to cover hospitals, prisons and schools; the Office of Fair Trading's remit should be amended so supermarkets are not blocked from cooperating on sustainability initiatives; and the scope for simple and consistent labelling on the sustainability of food products should be examined. The report warns that there is no overarching food strategy in place. Defra's 'Green Food Project' due in June examines only part of the food system and the focus on 'sustainable intensification' risks ignoring wider social and health implications. The UK does not currently have the basic science base to deliver more sustainable food and relying on markets to identify and to direct where the research is needed is likely to fail. An independent body to research GM crops and their impacts should also be established

Additional written evidence is contained in volume 3, available on the Committee website at www.parliament.uk/bis