John Bercow's creche is costly for taxpayer John Bercow was, no doubt, delighted when David and Samantha Cameron signed up their daughter Florence for the House of Commons nursery, which is one of the Speaker's pet projects. It is, however, providing a most expensive education. Newly released figures disclose that the creche at the Palace of Westminster cost the taxpayer £75,000 last year, on top of the £100,000 subsidy it received in 2011. The nursery was created by converting the much-missed Bellamy's bar, at a cost of £600,000. Despite the attendance of the Prime Minister's daughter, the nursery is being run at only 32.5 per cent of its capacity and few of the children are said to attend every working day. The original target was 40 per cent capacity by August 2011. There is no chance of its breaking even until the end of 2014, at the earliest. "It's a very expensive way for Bercow to flaunt his 'family-friendly" credentials," complains one of the Speaker's critics. Fees are £295 a week, and parents have to pay up to £49.50 a day extra if they want their children to stay after 6pm. The nursery's annual report shows that Bercow has, though, been making the most of the situation, by getting the children to decorate his christmas tree. The report says on December 10, "The children visit Mr Speaker and present him with Christmas decorations they have made for his tree in Speaker's apartments." After the nursery was opened in 2010, Christopher Chope, the Conservative MP, called it "a reckless waste of taxpayers" money."