LIST OF CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- It is worth reminding the House that in its First
Report of last Session, the Committee stressed three fundamental
criteria:
"—The Palace of
Westminster is primarily a place of work, and public access to
it must not impinge upon that work;
- visiting arrangements during the recess must
not constrain either the Parliamentary works programme, or the
ability of either House to sit at any time it may be necessary
to do so; and
- current rights of Members of both Houses, and
of the Parliamentary Education Unit, to sponsor visits must be
maintained." (Paragraph 8).
- The Committee's view has not altered, and we
would not have agreed to the revised proposals had we not been
convinced that the above criteria could again be met fully. (Paragraph
9).
- Similarly, the Committee considers it still appropriate
that:
"tours should follow the route currently taken
by visitors between 9.30 am and 12 noon, provided neither House
is sitting, ie:
Norman Porch—Queen's
Robing Room—Royal Gallery—Prince's Chamber—Chamber
of the House of Lords—Peers' Lobby and Corridor—Central
Lobby—Commons' Corridor and Lobby—Chamber of the House
of Commons—return to Central Lobby—St Stephen's Hall—Westminster
Hall—leaving by New Palace Yard."
We therefore recommend accordingly (paragraph 10).
- The Committee recommends that a Summer opening
should:
- extend for 7 weeks during August and September
2000, opening between the hours of 9.30 am and 5.30 pm daily,
six days per week, excluding Sundays and the summer Bank Holiday
- a total of 41 days;
- be co-ordinated through a new Visitors Office
located within the Palace of Westminster;
- require all visitors to be in groups and escorted
by a guide of a standard at least equal to that of a Blue Badge
Guide with a Palace of Westminster endorsement;
- adopt an advance booking system with timed tickets
to control visitor numbers and help facilitate the pre-booking
of guides;
- restrict the effective cost of admission to a
flat rate group booking/administration fee and guide charge to
be levied by the booking/guide management contractor;
- allow for non-English speaking and special interest
groups to be guided through the provision of suitably qualified
guides; and
- generate a contribution towards operating costs
through merchandising and the sale of guidebooks. (Paragraph 13).
- The advantages of these new proposals are that
a re-opening would not now:
- involve an admission charge per se;
- require a ticketing structure to be built within
Victoria Tower Garden; or
- require the procurement of audio guides as an
alternative to the traditional guided tour. (Paragraph 14).
- As with the Committee's original proposals, there
would be no change to either the existing arrangements for Members'
or staff access to the Line of Route during Summer, or to the
Education Unit's Autumn Visits Programme; both would be unaffected
by re-opening the Line of Route to the general public. The Committee
also wishes to stress that there would be no change to the current
arrangements which apply when the House is sitting. (Paragraph
16).
- The Committee considers it vital that, before
any final decision is taken on merchandising, the views of the
Refreshment Departments, and of the relevant Committees, of both
Houses are sought. (Paragraph 25).
- Based on a "worse-case scenario"of
a 60 per cent take-up, and allowing for a contingency sum of £50,000,
the operating costs would be some £286,000 - of which the
Commons share would be £170,000. Revenues would be reduced
to £54,000, of which the Commons would receive £32,000.
Therefore, out of the net annual operating deficit of £232,000,
the final cost for the Commons would be some £138,000 - and
we ask the House to consider our proposals with this figure in
mind. (Paragraph 29).
- The Committee wishes to confirm that, should
the House agree to a re-opening, Summer 2000 should be seen as
a trial, and will be subject to review later that year. Any problems
experienced could then be rectified before the House was asked
to decide whether or not a Summer opening should become a permanent
event, and/or if the Line of Route should be re-opened at other
times of the year. (Paragraph 32).
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