Appendix The Commission's response
A. Outreach
WORK WITH SCHOOLS ETC. (RECOMMENDATIONS 5, 7 AND
8)
The Commission has agreed to fund an additional staff
post within the Education Unit, to focus on outreach to young
people, as sought by the Committee. It is intended that a principal
focus of the new post will be on building links with local education
authorities. The Commission considers that the views of the House
should be sought before any further consideration of an education
roadshow, noting the estimate of the Board of Management that
it might cost as much as £500,000 in capital costs, with
full annual costs of over £300,000.
A NEW VOTERS' GUIDE ( RECOMMENDATION 10)
The Commission has authorised more detailed exploration
of the Committee's proposal for a new voters' guide to be sent
to all young people around the time of their eighteenth birthday,
so that a fully costed proposal can be worked up. The Commission
would not however authorise the production and distribution of
such a guide without the prior approval of the House.
A COMMONS NEWSLETTER (RECOMMENDATION 15)
The Commission has agreed in principle to the production
and distribution electronically and, in limited numbers, in hard
copy of a short newsletter summarising current House of Commons
business in a readily accessible format, as recommended by the
Committee, with a view to the first newsletter being available
early in 2005.
MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS (RECOMMENDATIONS 31 AND
32)
The Commission has agreed to fund modest additional
staffing within the media and communications team, to enable the
Communications Adviser to expand significantly the support provided
for the Group on Information for the Public (GIP), and so to provide
for the improved co-ordination of the House's resources in this
area recommended by the Committee.
The Commission acknowledges the Committee's welcome
of the steps it has taken in recent years to improve and expand
media and communications services, primarily but not exclusively
focussed on promoting the work of select committees. Since the
Committee reported, two further select committee media officers
have begun work, so that all committees now have a call on this
shared resource. The media and communications team is now co-located
in 7 Millbank.
The Commission believes that the House should be
asked to express a view on the proposal for a 'central press office'
set out in the Committee's Report.
B. Visitors
RECEPTION AND SECURITY BUILDING (RECOMMENDATIONS
18, 21(A) & 21(D))
The recommendations in relation to reception staff
and queuing arrangements will be dealt with in planning for the
new reception and security building, in conjunction with the appropriate
domestic committees.
VISITOR CENTRE &C (RECOMMENDATIONS 4, 5, 19 &
20)
The recommendations will be addressed in the development
of plans for a Visitor Centre, in conjunction with the appropriate
domestic committees. A number of options are being explored, and
the four specific objectives identified by the Committee will
be borne in mind by all those responsible. Given the pressures
on space in the Estate, the best opportunity to provide dedicated
educational facilities for the use of the Education Unit, as recommended
by the Committee, would seem to lie in the proposed Visitor Centre.
The Education Unit has priority booking over the Macmillan Room
throughout the year, as recommended by the Committee (Recommendation
5).
VISITORS (RECOMMENDATION 17)
The Commission notes the Committee's view on the
relative priority to be given to distinct groups of visitors.
It considers that visits conducted under the auspices of the Education
Unit should in principle be prioritised.
SIGNAGE (RECOMMENDATIONS 21 (B) & (C))
The major study of signage referred to in the Committee's
Report has now been completed. There is already a welcome sign
on the plasma screens at St Stephen's Entrance and in Central
Lobby.
'STRANGERS' (RECOMMENDATION 22)
The Committee will be aware that the House decided
on 26 October to remove the term 'strangers' from Standing Orders.
Advice has been sought from the appropriate domestic committees
on the use of the term in other contexts, as referred to by the
Committee in paragraph 86 of its Report.
PARLIAMENT-IN-ACTION (RECOMMENDATIONS 6, 21(E) AND
23)
The Commission has noted the Committee's linked suggestions
of a 'Parliament-in-action Tour' to help visitors understand how
Parliament works and give them a brief taste of select and standing
committees, Westminster Hall and the Chamber: of a viewing gallery
in the Chamber to enable visitors to see the House while sitting
but not stop to listen to the debate: and for further study of
ways to enable tours to pass through the Gallery to witness the
House in action.
The proposed Visitor Centre will, as the Committee
recommended, have as one of its primary objectives 'allowing visitors
to see at least something of what Parliament is and does without
necessarily having to visit the galleries, committees or take
a tour' (paragraph 82). It will of course also continue to be
possible for visitors to attend Westminster Hall debates, standing
committees and public meetings of select committees, as well as
the Chamber itself. The Commission does not consider it feasible
in the current security climate to contemplate tours passing through
the gallery in the Chamber. Educational tours embracing brief
visits to committees or Westminster Hall may be feasible.
The Commission has also asked for further exploration
of the possibility of extension of the current autumn visits programme
run by the Education Unit to run all year round, and of the feasibility
of a 'virtual' tour.
PARLIAMENTARY TOUR (RECOMMENDATIONS 24 & 25)
Members can book guided tours of the visitor route
on specified mornings throughout the period of the Summer Opening:
307 such tours were booked in the 2004 opening out of a possible
390 slots. The prospect of Saturday opening of the Parliamentary
Tour for Members' parties as well as paying groups is being examined
in detail, and the matter will come to the Administration Committee
soon. There are some serious practical issues to be resolved.
The proposal would also require the support of the authorities
in the House of Lords.
STANDING COMMITTEES (RECOMMENDATIONS 26 & 27)
The Procedure Committee has begun to examine how
to improve the presentation of information on legislative proceedings,
as sought by the Modernisation Committee. A guide for visitors
to standing committees on bills is now being made available to
visitors.
C. Publications, website, &c
WEBSITE (RECOMMENDATIONS 11, 16)
The Committee's recommendation for a radical upgrade
of the website is already receiving attention. In recent months
there have been a number of improvements in the site's content
and organisation, including the introduction of webcasting. More
extensive changes are being planned for as part of the second
phase of the Parliamentary Information Management Services (PIMS)
project and the third phase of the Web Centre project. A business
case will be prepared for the development of external access to
PIMS, which would then become the primary means of providing public
access to parliamentary information. The Commission expects to
be considering this issue in the first half of 2005. Research
will be commissioned shortly on how the website could be better
designed to reach out to target audiences, and in particular to
be more accessible to young people, as the Committee recommended.
HANSARD (RECOMMENDATIONS 33 & 34)
The Commission has authorised the publication on
the internet of the Hansard report of proceedings in the Chamber
throughout the day, as and when the final version is sent to the
printer, as recommended by the Committee. A simple index to the
Hansard daily part will be produced by autumn 2005 as part of
an existing project to bring the pagination process in-House:
such an index is already provided for the internet version.
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