Controversy over a Bristol City Council snack tray!

Local TV

Labour councillors are fuming, calling it a waste of taxpayer money and a sign that the Green-led administration is negotiating bad deals. One councillor even offered to bring his own water bottle to save the public five grand.

Transcript

00:00You've probably heard of pricey coffee or bottled water, but how about tap water costing

00:08the council nearly £5,000 a year? That's what's happening at Bristol City Council.

00:16After it was revealed new caterers are charging £20 per meeting just to provide tap water.

00:24With around 80 policy meetings and 156 democratic service meetings a year, the total bill adds

00:32up to £4,720 annually, all for H2O that comes straight from the tap.

00:39Labour councillors are fuming, calling it a waste of taxpayers' money and a sign that

00:45the Green-led administration is negotiating bad deals.

00:50One councillor even offered to bring his own water bottle to save the public £5,000.

00:55But the Greens are pushing back hard. They say it's just £30 per councillor at a full council

01:03meeting and compared to the £43 million Labour lost on the failed Bristol Energy venture is

01:11a drop in the ocean. According to their maths, the money could cover tap water at council meetings

01:18for the next 250,000 years. Behind the scenes, the row also touches a nerve. The new catering

01:27firm replaced Pegasus Catering, a small family-run Bristol business. So, while the water might

01:34be free from the tap, it stirred up quite a political storm, with Labour crying waste, Greens

01:40calling it petty and a caterer caught in the middle.

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