News / bristol city council
Jugs of water at City Hall ‘not cost-effective’ said council contractor
Providing jugs of water for councillors in City Hall was deemed to be “not cost-effective commercially” by a former council contractor.
A new report has pledged to address concerns about the new contractor which has seen prices for community groups shoot up.
In 2025, it was revealed that the new contractor was charging the council £20 for tap water at every committee meeting.
The annual cost of providing water for councillors was £4,720, which opposition Labour councillors criticised and claimed was pouring “money down the drain”.
Other groups affected by the higher prices included a community choir using a council building and CAMRA cancelling their annual beer festival in City Hall.
Now council bosses have pledged to work with the new contractor and make changes, in a report to the strategy and resources policy committee, which will meet on May 26.
The report, due to be presented to councillors by David Martin, Bristol City Council’s head of corporate landlord, said: “In City Hall, prior to July 2025 water was only provided in meetings by the hospitality supplier when other food and beverages were provided.
“The previous supplier stopped the delivery of jugs of water to meetings in Bristol City Council where no other food or drink was ordered. The reason was due to the service not being cost-effective commercially.
“Processes are now in place for the provision of water in meetings and for members of the public.
“Since engagement and agreed ways forward, we have received no further feedback indicating there are continued challenges.
“Additional signage for City Hall has been agreed and ordered indicating where water stations are located.”
……………………………………………….
This article is published as part of the BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporting Service. Another website in Bristol is making its readers pay for LDRS stories but at Bristol24/7 we will never have a paywall. If you want to support our independent journalism, please consider becoming a member from just £3 per month
……………………………………………….
The corporate catering contract was awarded in 2025 to Restaurant Associates, owned by Compass, a major catering company that also provides school dinners across the country.
As well as the expensive water for councillors, this led to the end of the popular snack trolley selling crisps, sandwiches and drinks during the break of lengthy full council meetings.
The contract dates back to 2022, when former mayor Marvin Rees’ cabinet decided a new approach to catering.
This aimed to streamline the previously fragmented approach and save money following concerns about a lack of focus on “maximising income and utilisation” of council buildings.
The contract itself was put out to tender, signed and agreed under the Greens. The finer details of the new approach, such as providing water for council meetings, happened after the local elections in May 2024.
But this led to criticism in 2025 when fees to hire the council-owned Create Centre shot up from £200 to £1,500. The council later u-turned on this “ridiculous” fee hike.
In 2025, CAMRA also cancelled its annual beer and cider festival which used to take place in City Hall because of the proposed increases in fees to hire a room there.
The committee report added: “The project and business case focused on financial savings and did not consider the impact on community groups and charities using event space in City Hall and the Create Centre.
“It was recognised that all customers enquiring with our ‘Events Partners’ were quoted commercial rates.
“This resulted in significant increases for event space for charities and community groups that have previously received or benefited from discounts or waived fees.
“The project would have benefited if the impact on community groups and charities that use spaces in City Hall and the Create Centre had been fully considered at initial stages as well as the financial saving target.”
Main photo: Alex Seabrook
Read next:
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
