![\"Bottles](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_Tap-Water-At-A-Full-Council-Meeting-Of-Bristol-City-Council-On-Tuesday-September-10-2025.jpg\")
Tap water at a full council meeting of Bristol City Council on Tuesday, September 10(Image: Alex Seabrook\/LDRS)<\/p>\nIt costs taxpayers thousands a yearTap water at a full council meeting of Bristol City Council on Tuesday, September 10(Image: Alex Seabrook\/LDRS)<\/p>\n
New caterers are charging Bristol City Council \u00a320 for tap water at every committee meeting<\/a>, it has been revealed. The total cost of the ‘service’ per year for the 80 policy committee meetings and 156 democratic service meetings is \u00a34,720.<\/p>\n Opposition Labour<\/a> has lambasted the Green-led administration, saying it is pouring money down the drain.<\/p>\n The Greens hit back and said the costs equate to 30p per councillor for a meeting of full council \u2013 \u201cjust a trickle in the grand scheme of things\u201d \u2013 and that the \u00a343million lost by the previous Labour-run authority on the disastrous Bristol Energy project would have provided water at council meetings for 215,000 years.<\/p>\n The new food-and-drink suppliers, Compass (Compass Contract Services UK Ltd), replaced small Bristol family business Pegasus Catering in the summer following 26 years of service at City Hall.<\/p>\n Labour group leader Cllr Tom Renhard (Horfield) said: \u201cThis is a clear reflection of how poorly the Greens are running the council.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be funny if it wasn\u2019t taxpayer money they were wasting.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this is the deal they negotiate for tap water, how bad are the deals they\u2019re negotiating for social care, housing developments, or road repairs?<\/p>\n \u201cThe Labour group will happily bring in our water bottles if it means we can save the public five grand.<\/p>\n \u201cMore taxpayer money going down the drain, the Greens need to fix this fast and focus on Bristolians\u2019 priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n Cllr Ed Fraser (Green, Eastville) said: \u201cListening to Cllr Renhard\u2019s desperate and constant attempts to attack the Greens is thirsty work.<\/p>\n \u201cThe costs of which Cllr Renhard are complaining about equate to around 30p per councillor at a full council meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cJust a trickle in the grand scheme of things.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Cllr Renhard was actually concerned about costs to the council, perhaps he should look at some of the mismanaged contracts from his time in administration, such as the \u00a343million blown on the failed Bristol Energy project \u2013 enough money to provide water to full council meetings for the next 215,000 years.<\/p>\n \u201cLuckily we will be well stocked for water at our meetings so this shouldn\u2019t catch a frog in Cllr Renhard\u2019s throat.\u201d<\/p>\n In a written statement to member forum<\/a> last December, Cllr Richard Eddy (Conservative, Bishopsworth) said he was \u201cshocked and dismayed\u201d at the previous caterers being axed.<\/p>\n He said at the time: \u201cThis company has provided refreshments in this place for over a quarter of a century.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a small Bristol family-run business which has given devoted and loyal service to members, council officers, and the Bristol public for an impressively long time.<\/p>\n \u201cMore pertinently, the latest development will mean the replacement of a much-loved catering woman who has served refreshments at our College Green headquarters for 26 years.<\/p>\n \u201cThis fantastic individual has been told by council managers that her valuable services are no longer required from June 2025 after the council decided to award a citywide contract to a much larger corporate catering company.<\/p>\n \u201cMembers will agree that this bubbly and friendly lady has become a familiar institution at City Hall and, in my judgement, is exactly the sort of fun-loving and informal person this organisation needs.<\/p>\n \u201cShe is employed by Pegasus Catering, which was originally founded by her late mother.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is now run by her brother, who often helps out in City Hall for the bigger events.<\/p>\n \u201cBut this loyal woman has apparently fallen foul of council chiefs, who seem determined to arrange future contracts on a much different basis.<\/p>\n \u201cNapolean Bonaparte famously said that \u2018an army marches on its stomach\u2019.<\/p>\n