Select Committee on Administration First Report


2  History

Previous work within Parliament

15. In July 2002 a feasibility study for a visitor centre on the Parliamentary Estate was commissioned and a report prepared on behalf of the House of Commons Commission, to be considered by the relevant Domestic Committees.[20] It recommended that a security and reception building be created at Cromwell Green to provide a more welcoming entrance for visitors than the current arrangements at St Stephen's Entrance. Whilst accepting this conclusion, the Committees were opposed to the recommendation that two floors of offices and meetings rooms off Westminster Hall could be displaced to provide a visitor centre and shop. The consultants were asked to develop the proposals for the security and reception building on Cromwell Green, look at options for a visitor centre outside the Parliamentary Estate and also to consider whether a scaled down visitor centre could be housed on one floor next to Westminster Hall. Those proposals, considered by the Domestic Committees in May 2003, found that an extension out onto Cromwell Green would provide only limited extra capacity and would have an impact on the view of the front of the Palace. Therefore, the Committees concluded that there was not enough space within the Palace to house a visitor centre.

16. The House of Commons Commission and House of Lords House Committee agreed that the results of the two studies should be used by a senior group of officials of both Houses[21] to assist the Commons Administration and Accommodation and Works Committees in an inquiry on the subject.

17. On 10 February 2004 the Joint Report of the Commons Administration and Accommodation and Works Committees was published. It agreed that Parliament needed to improve the access, welcome and information for visitors. The Report recommended the construction of a visitor reception building on Cromwell Green, as an initial step towards improving facilities for the public, but recommended further study to seek a location outside the Palace of Westminster for a full-scale interpretative visitor centre to include:

  • An exhibition space explaining the work and role of Parliament;
  • Accommodation for school parties and their reception;
  • A bookshop/retail facility;
  • A ticket office for tours of Parliament, and
  • A display area for pictures and artefacts from Parliament's collection. [22]

18. The Report concluded that it could not identify a space on the Parliamentary Estate for these facilities, without undue disruption of current users.

19. The House of Commons approved the Committees' Report on 11 May 2004 and endorsed their proposals for a new reception and security building at the north end of Cromwell Green.

20. Shortly afterwards, on 16 June 2004, the Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons Committee published a Report on Connecting Parliament with the Public which welcomed the Joint Report and recommended that "the House consider the provision of dedicated educational facilities for the use of the Education Service, including a teaching area"[23] and envisaged "planning for a dedicated Visitor Centre" with the following objectives:

a)  it must provide a welcome to visitors;

b)  it must provide an interesting and friendly environment;

c)  it should make Parliament more accessible, 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, and

d)  it must improve public understanding and knowledge of the work and role of Parliament.[24]

21. On 16 July 2004 the House of Lords accepted the recommendation of the House of Lords House Committee to endorse the recommendations of the Joint Report of the House of Commons Administration and Accommodation and Works Committees.

22. In response to the Modernisation Committee's Report in November 2004, the House of Commons Commission said that the Committee's recommendations would be addressed in the development of plans for a Visitor Centre; and given the pressures on space in the Estate, the best opportunity to provide dedicated educational facilities for the use of the Education Service, as recommended by the Modernisation Committee, would seem to lie in the proposed Visitor Centre.[25]

23. On 26 January 2005 the House noted "with approval" the Modernisation Committee's Report, welcomed "the steps taken or planned as set out in the Commission's response" and resolved "that the House should make itself more accessible".[26] The Administrations of both Houses agreed that work on the feasibility, consultation, design and approvals for an off-site visitor centre should be taken forward by a group of officials. The results of that work would be presented to the relevant Domestic Committees for approval, before being put to both Houses for agreement.

Previous work outside Parliament

24. Proposals for a visitor centre have also been discussed by external project teams in the context of improving the Westminster area in general for visitors:

a)  The World Squares for All Parliament Square Regeneration Project aims to:

The project's initial feasibility study examined how to upgrade and improve the areas around the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey, including: Parliament Square, Cromwell Green, Canning Green, Dean's Yard, New and Old Palace Yards, and College Green and Victoria Tower Gardens. Plans to enhance the visitor experience included a potential centre for visitors to the Westminster area on College Green and an orangery, café and toilet facilities in Victoria Tower Gardens.[28] It is still examining ideas for a visitor information point in Parliament Square related to key visitor attractions in the area. The project team includes representatives from the Greater London Authority (GLA), English Heritage, Royal Parks Agency, Transport for London, Westminster Abbey, Westminster City Council and the Parliamentary Estates Directorate.

b)  A draft Management Plan has been prepared for the Westminster World Heritage Site which includes the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey including St Margaret's Church. The Steering Group for the Plan includes representatives from the Parliamentary Estates Directorate, Westminster Abbey, Westminster School, Westminster City Council, GLA, Transport for London, Royal Parks Agency and other interested parties. The draft plan envisages that in the future the site will be:

    A place where people can come to work, learn, worship and visit with comfort, safety and enjoyment. A place where people of all nationalities and abilities can be inspired by its unique character and beauty and its rich living history.[29]

The plan aims to provide visitors with a high quality experience through good visitor management and modern facilities. It states that the whole area would benefit from better signage and orientation plans and identifies the challenge faced by pedestrian visitor flow and traffic around the area. Whilst not incompatible with the initial proposals for a Parliament-only visitor centre, the plan is in favour of a more holistic approach to visitors to the World Heritage site with, for example, information points explaining the historical relationship between the Abbey and Parliament.[30]

Results of this work

Changes to existing Parliamentary visitor information activities

25. In response to the Modernisation Committee's Report on Connecting Parliament with the Public, the Group on Information for the Public was made responsible by the Board of Management of the House of Commons for co-ordinating action on the Committee recommendations agreed to by the House of Commons Commission. The GIP Business Plan, published in March 2006, recognised that work on connecting Parliament with the public needed several strands.

26. As well as development of visitor facilities the plan set goals to be achieved by 2011 as set out in the following table :Table 1: GIP Business Plan Goals
An intuitive website that explains what Parliament does, is easily searchable, well used and appreciated and integrates video, audio and text.
The Parliamentary Education Service plays a full part in ensuring that all schoolchildren have a good understanding of Parliament, young people reaching voting age understand the importance of democracy and education about Parliament is embedded in the curriculum.
To encourage the media to project Parliament as a working institution keeping them well informed, with an emphasis on TV, internet and local/regional media as well as national news media.
Subject to political agreement and the necessary financial approvals to develop Westminster as the hub of a network for engagement focused on communities and their interests working closely with and supporting the work of individual Members of Parliament.
A proactive welcome for visitors of all kinds.
To work effectively with other institutions in the Westminster area to help meet Parliament's objectives for engagement with visitors.
A programme of exhibitions linked to Parliament's communications objectives.
To combine improvements to the experience visitors receive when they come to Westminster with improvements to the way Parliament connects with those not able to come here.
Any visitor facilities at Westminster would need to complement and reinforce work on the website, education programmes with schools, relations with the media and broader outreach in constituencies across the country.

Source: Business Plan of the Group on Information for the Public

27. Current work programmes which aim to enhance the experience of visitors to Parliament are set out in the table below:Table 2: Current GIP work programmes
The redesign of the Parliamentary website. A major redevelopment of the website is underway which aims to make the website more accessible and user friendly and to use email alerts to promote the work of Parliament.
The expansion of the work of the Parliamentary Education Service as follows:

The total number of staff has increased from 5.5 to 9.5 full time equivalents

An outreach programme is being developed where two outreach officers will visit schools and colleges across the country and aim to establish contacts with all LEAs by the end of 2007/08

The visits programme is being extended to provide a year-round programme aimed at all ages between 7-18 years old. By expanding the programme, the number of young people participating is expected to increase to 28,000 over the next two years

All Education Service publications have been revised and are available on its website by the end of 2006/07 and the Service has produced new education films to be distributed to schools free upon request.

A business case is being prepared for outreach across the country with Westminster as the hub. The emphasis would be on local communities and their interests working closely with and supporting the work of individual Members.
Feedback and enquiries from the public are being used by the Information Offices of both Houses to inform the content of publications such as fact sheets, guides and other publications. Reviews of information materials are made to ensure parliamentary publications are fit for purpose.

VISITOR RECEPTION BUILDING

28. The main recommendation of the Joint Report of the Accommodation and Works and Administration Committees in 2004 was that Parliament must provide a better welcome to its visitors via a more convenient and secure access point than they currently experience via the St Stephen's Entrance security check. At the time of writing, the Visitor Reception Building (VRB) project on Cromwell Green was nearing completion.

29. When the VRB opens, visitors will be met by Visitor Assistants (VAs), who already provide information and guidance for the public, and will enter the Palace via the North Door of Westminster Hall where they will be able to wait in the Hall if necessary. The aim behind the introduction of VAs was to provide a friendlier, more professional welcome for the general public and to enable the identification and fast-tracking of Members' guests and business visitors. Since the introduction of the assistants in Summer 2005, queues outside the Palace have been reduced and the flow of visitors to the viewing galleries has improved and increased. There are now 17 VAs in post and the service they provide will be reviewed against the business requirements of both Houses.

30. We welcome the recent improvements to some of the services available to the public, and now consider the extent to which they should be developed further.


20   The feasibility study and report were prepared by Haley Sharpe Consultants and Purcell Miller Tritton Conservation Architects. Back

21   The Visitor Facilities Support Group which became the PVIC Development Project Stakeholder Group. Back

22   Accommodation and Works and Administration Committees, Visitor Facilities: Access to Parliament, para 36 Back

23   Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons, Connecting Parliament with the Public, para 21 Back

24   Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons, Connecting Parliament with the Public, para 82 Back

25   Modernisation of the House of CommonsSelect Committee, First Special Report of Session 2004-05, Connecting Parliament with the Public: the House of Commons Commission's Response to the Committee's First Report of Session 2003-04, HC 69, p 3 Back

26   HC Deb, 26 January 2005, col 387 Back

27   World Squares for All Parliament Square Regeneration, A Framework for Action (London, 2006), p 6 Back

28   Ibid., pp 18-19 Back

29   http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/westminsterwhs/docs/WWHS_section%204.pdf Back

30   http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/westminsterwhs/docs/WWHS_section%205.pdf Back


 
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Prepared 18 April 2007