Hand On A Plate Meaning

(idiomatic) Provide without requiring any effort on the part of the recipient.

Example: 2011 December 14, Angelique Chrisafis, “Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism”[1], Guardian:
  The row started over who will run for parliament in a wealthy rightwing constituency on the left bank in Paris, a safe seat for Sarkozy's ruling UMP. Dati is already a local mayor in the neighbourhood, a job felt to have been handed to her on a plate when she was a Sarkozy favourite. She has since fallen from grace, and when she left government she took a European parliament seat, considered a consolation prize.