An expert on parliamentary matters has issued a warning that the aging and deteriorating state of the Parliament building has made it susceptible to soaring energy costs. According to the latest data, the gas and electricity bills for the first two months of the current financial year have already reached nearly £1 million. During April and May 2023, the gas bill for Parliament amounted to £152,661, while the electricity bill reached a staggering £741,897, resulting in a combined total of £894,558 for that two-month period alone.
The most recent available data covers the financial year 2021/22. During that year, the overall gas expenditure amounted to £793,650, and the electricity costs reached £4,598,657. Comparing these figures to the two preceding years, there was a notable increase in gas expenses in the 2020/21 financial year, which totaled £554,875, and the 2019/20 financial year, which amounted to £634,627.
However, it's essential to consider that the 2020/21 financial year included prolonged periods of lockdown, during which fewer people would have been present on the parliamentary estate, possibly affecting the gas consumption.
Electricity costs have shown fluctuations in recent years, with a total bill of £4,815,584 in the 2020/21 financial year, an increase from the £3,311,512 recorded in 2019/20, but closer to the £4,459,994 seen in 2018/19.