FIRST REPORT
The Administration Committee has agreed to the
following Report:—
PROPOSAL TO RE-OPEN THE LINE OF ROUTE
DURING THE SUMMER ADJOURNMENT
I. BACKGROUND
1. Since the 1970's, visitors to the Palace of Westminster
have been able to take part in tours along a predetermined course
(the "Line of Route") only by being sponsored by a Member
or Officer of the House, or an equivalent member of staff. Currently
some 120,000 visitors a year visit the Line of Route in this way.
No ticket charge is levied, but guides cost £20 to £25
per group of 16 visitors. For over 20 years casual visitors and
tourists have been denied the opportunity of visiting the Palace,
and of seeing the home of Parliament and its treasures. This is
a situation which the Administration Committee wished to see changed
to enable as many people as possible to see the two Houses of
Parliament.
2. Accordingly, when the Committee was advised by
the Serjeant at Arms on 31 March 1998 that he, and Black Rod,
were undertaking a competitive tender competition to select a
consultant to advise on all the aspects to be considered concerning
the possible re-opening of the Line of Route to the general public
during the Summer Adjournment, it was in full support of this
course of action.
3. On 16 June 1998 the Serjeant at Arms reported
back to the Committee that the appraisal report had been completed,
and although focussed mainly on opening the Line of Route to the
public from the Summer Adjournment 1999 for an eight-week period,
it also identified the potential to open the Line of Route on
non-sitting days at other times of the year. Additionally, the
consultants identified a number of possible improvements to correct
deficiencies in the existing arrangements for sponsored visitors
to the Line of Route in order to make the visit a memorable one
of high quality and in keeping with the dignity of Parliament.
Furthermore, they recommended that the summer opening programme
should be organised as a ring-fenced activity with the majority
of operational services contracted out to specialist organisations
(eg ticketing, ushering and retail).
4. The Committee endorsed the proposal to continue
with detailed planning. The consultants' Business Plan, which
was presented to the Committee on 1 December 1998 and reported
to the House on 9 February 1999, set out a basis for a 5-year
programme of summer opening based on the aim of breaking even
over that period. Copies of the Plan are available for inspection
by Members in the House of Commons Library.
5. As this is a matter which concerns both Houses
equally, Sub-Committees of the House of Lords Offices Committee
have been undertaking a parallel inquiry. A concurrent meeting
with the Administration and Works Sub-Committee was held on 9
December 1998, which indicated that, although both Committees
were broadly in agreement on how progress might be made, some
members of the Lords Sub-Committee were fundamentally opposed
in principle to the possibility of charging visitors to take part
in tours along the Line of Route.
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