Further memorandum from the Serjeant at
Arms
1. Following the evidence sessions with
the Clerk of the House, Paul Monaghan, Greg Unwin and myself you
asked for further information for the Committee. I attach a short
paper on the practicality of suiting Members Accommodation which
amplifies Paul Monaghan's evidence. I also provide the details
of residences and other overnight accommodation which you require.
2. I hope this information is sufficient.
26 May 2006
Annex 1
SUITING OF MEMBERS' ACCOMMODATION
1. On 25 April Paul Monaghan, the Director
of Estates, gave evidence to the Committee concerning the suiting
of offices on the Parliamentary Estate. In his evidence Mr Monaghan
stated that it would be possible to address the requirement to
provide each member with a suited office within the Estate Strategy
if this was decided upon. He then referred to the need to move
people around and for difficult decisions to be taken if this
was to be achieved. Given the way the evidence session flowed,
he did not have the opportunity to expand on the practical issues
which would need to be addressed. In summary these are:
— Given the cellular nature of the
office accommodation in the Palace and the Grade 1 listing of
the building there are very few opportunities for making structural
changes which would allow an increase in the number of rooms available.
This means that rooms could be suited only by reducing, very significantly,
the number of Members who had offices in the building. As an example,
an initial outline proposal for providing suites in the Upper
Committee Corridors would have resulted in a reduction from 80
single Member offices to 36 suites and 7 single Member offices.
— No work has been done to quantify
the effect of suiting other Members' offices in the Palace but
the scale is likely to be much the same.
— Similar arguments apply to suiting
more accommodation in 1 Parliament Street and the Norman Shaw
buildings.
— There is currently no space available
into which staff of the House could be moved to provide additional
accommodation for Members. It may, however, be possible identify
opportunities to make improvements at the margin by exchanging
accommodation between staff and Members. No work has been done
in this area to date.
— No funds are currently provided in
the financial plans agreed by the Commission to obtain any additional
accommodation or to carry out the works required to achieve further
suiting if this is desired.
2. Given these constraints it is not possible
to provide suited accommodation for all Members within the current
estate. To achieve suited accommodation as a strategic aim it
would require the House to take on additional accommodation either
in the Westminster area or elsewhere. There are significant operational
and cost implications which would have to be understood and accepted
before such a decision was taken.
3. A further consideration is that moving
the staff that currently share their Member's accommodation, in
order to achieve suiting, would require more space to be found
for them; this would result in a very inefficient use of the space
in those Members' offices.
Annex 2
RESIDENTIAL AND OVERNIGHT ACCOMMODATION
PROVISION
1. Residential accommodation is provided
within the Parliamentary Estate as follows:
| Location | Occupant
| Area | Value
| Upkeep |
| 2, Parliament Street | Serjeant at Arms
| 399 sq m | £2.2m |
£1.3k |
| 3, Parliament Street | Clerk of the House
| 405 sq m | £2.8m |
£1.3k |
| 2A Canon Row | Head Office Keeper
| 159 sq m | £809k |
£1.1k |
| 2B Canon Row | 2nd Office Keeper
| 131 sq m | £666k |
£1.1k |
| 4 Canon Row | Speaker's Secretary
| 245 sq m | £1.6m |
£1.1k |
| | |
| |
Speaker's House 1st floor: Speaker's Housekeeper's flat
Palace of Westminster
| 48.1 sq m | N/A | £1k
|
| |
| | |
2. Residential accommodation is also provided in Rochester
Row:
102 Rochester Row | 3rd Office Keeper
| 91 sq m | £375k | £7k
|
| |
| | |
See footnotes[2], [3],
[4]
REQUIREMENT
3. The Speaker occupies his flat to enable him to conduct
his official duties. The Clerk of the House, the Serjeant at Arms,
and the Speaker's Secretary occupy their residences in order to
attend upon the Speaker whenever he requires this. It is desirable
to have senior officials on site to react to and if necessary
direct any emergency, especially in the area of security.
4. The Head, Second and Third Office Keepers are staff
of the House who provide 24 hour on site cover every day throughout
the year to deal with any emergency requirements which Members
or others may have. Typical calls are reacting on the death of
a Member, retrieving and forwarding papers and other items for
Members and ensuring that Members' interests are safeguarded in
the event of disruption to their offices such as water ingress
or fire. Were this accommodation not available then equivalent
alternative residential space would have to be provided for the
Head and Second Office Keepers in the vicinity of the Palace.
The Third Office Keeper has a flat in Rochester Row.
5. Residence in this accommodation is a requirement under
the terms and conditions of the individuals involved.
BACKGROUND
6. The use of the accommodation currently occupied by
the residences in Parliament Street and Canon Row was considered
by the then Services Committee as part of its report into the
first phase of the new Parliamentary building. [5]Based
on evidence from Sir Hugh Casson and PSA, which indicated that
the buildings were ". . . frail and vulnerable, giving rise
to loading problems, even in standard office use . . ." the
Committee supported the conversion of these properties into residences.
The major factor in support of the decision was the character
and layout of the Grade II listed buildings which argued for the
restoration of their original use combined with the fact that
to convert the properties for office use would be very expensive.
7. A point in favour of the decision was that the Serjeant
at Arms, Deputy Serjeant at Arms, two Office Keepers and the Speaker's
Secretary vacated accommodation in the Palace which was converted
to provide convenient offices near the Chamber for Members and
their support staff.
8. During the refurbishment of Norman Shaw South between
2001 and 2003 the area in that building formerly occupied as a
residence by the Clerk of the House was given over to Members'
offices. The Clerk of the House occupied the Serjeant at Arms'
residence; the Serjeant at Arms now occupies what was the Deputy's
accommodation. The Deputy Serjeant at Arms no longer has a residence.
This change was effected on change of Deputy Serjeant at Arms
so no issues arose over terms and conditions.
OVERNIGHT ACCOMMODATION
9. As well as the staff quarters in the Speaker's flat
the House provides accommodation for staff who are required to
remain late in support of the sittings of the House or its Committees.
The bulk of this (17 small bedrooms) is in 21 John Islip Street
in a building which was once the Speaker's chauffeur's flat.
10. There are also a number of rooms, formed of lower
quality space, which double as changing spaces for Deputy Speakers
and uniformed staff with duties in the Chamber, in the basement
of the Parliament Street complex and the Palace as follows:
Parliament Street
Basement |
5 rooms
|
64 sq m |
Chamber staff
|
| | |
|
Palace
Star Chamber Court Principal floor
|
3 rooms |
36.7 sq m
|
Deputy Speakers |
| Clock Tower 1st floor | 2 rooms
| 30.7 sq m | Chamber staff |
| Speaker's House Principal Mezzanine | 2 rooms
| 32.9 sq m | Speaker's staff
|
| |
| |
11. Overnight accommodation at the expense of the House
is provided for those who have a clear and proven business need.
In practice this means:
— Staff who are expected to be on duty to support
the House or its Committees after 10.30 pm and who live outside
the 25 mile taxi radius.
— Staff who are on duty until the Rise of the House
if this is expected to be after 7.30 pm and who are required for
duty before 8.30 am the following morning.
— Exceptionally, on other occasions on which there
is a departmental business reason for use of the overnight accommodation,
with the approval of the Departmental Establishments Officer.
12. Accommodation is provided at the Union Jack Club
in Sandell Street, adjacent to Waterloo Station, from Sunday to
Thursday inclusive for 32 sitting weeks per year, for nine Doorkeepers.
These staff retain a right to overnight accommodation as part
of the terms and conditions under which they were employed. This
privilege was removed from the terms and conditions of Doorkeepers
who joined after 1995.
2
Market valuations carried out March 2006 by the Valuation Office
Agency. Back
3
Upkeep values shown are for council tax only. Utilities are not
separately metered and occupants make a contribution from salaries
to cover the notional cost. Figures for other maintenance activities
are not recorded separately from those in other areas of the Palace
and outbuildings. Back
4
Upkeep for 102 Rochester Row covers utilities and service charge
(which includes an element for maintenance). Back
5
Third Report from the Select Committee on House of Commons (Services),
HC (1990-91) 551, paragraphs 14-17. Back
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