Don’t take our fig trees plead MPS
Battle to keep £400,000 plants
MPS are fighting to keep 12 fig trees in their offices, even though it costs the taxpayer £32,500 a year.
They say removing the trees from an entrance hall in a parliamentary office block would make the place too hot and noisy.
More than £400,000 has been spent on the rental and upkeep of the trees since they were installed 11 years ago.
Despite this, MPS are suggesting they be kept – claiming that uprooting the trees would make the glass-roofed atrium of Portcullis House, in Westminster, uncomfortably hot in the summer and would decrease the quality of air that MPS breathe.
They also claim removing the trees would also result in ‘higher ambient noise levels’, making it harder for parliamentarians to do their job.
The option of keeping the trees will be discussed at a meeting of Commons officials next week. In February, Speaker John Bercow said he was ‘horrified’ to discover that parliamentary authorities had signed the contract, which began in 2001, and called for it to be scrapped to save taxpayers’ money. But it has now emerged that the House of Commons Commission, which runs the Parliamentary estate, is suggesting that getting rid of the trees could be more trouble than it is worth. Instead, they will try to reduce the cost to taxpayers by renegotiating with the rental firm Plant Care.
The information was revealed by Anne Main, Tory MP for St Albans, after she tabled a parliamentary question to the House of Commons Commission.
She asked whether the body had ‘given consideration to the use of the space previously occupied by the fig trees in Portcullis House in the event that the trees are removed’.
John Thurso, a Lib Dem MP who sits on the board of the Commission, replied: ‘No. The Commission agreed on February 27 that the contract for the hire and upkeep of trees should be renegotiated at the earliest opportunity with the aim of reducing the cost significantly.
‘Removal of the trees would lead to a noticeable increase in noise levels and reduced levels of shade (especially in summer, where the glass roof would probably lead to a requirement for additional cooling). The trees also improve air quality.’
Mr Thurso added: ‘The removal of the trees would result in higher ambient noise levels.’
A spokesman for the House of Commons Commission said no decision would be taken on what to do with the trees until next week.
A spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Alliance said: ‘Despite all the warm words from Westminster it appears MPS are all talk when it comes to rooting out wasteful spending.
‘Taxpayers are getting a terrible deal from renting this opulent greenery, Parliament should do the right thing and find a more affordable solution.
‘Politicians shouldn’t shy away from ditching wasteful contracts.’