David Winnick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2014-04-28.
To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what consultations the House authorities held with English Heritage prior to implementing the recent changes to St Stephen’s Entrance; whether those changes will be permanent or temporary; and what steps the Commission plans to take to ensure that better protection from inclement weather and other improved facilities are provided for visitors to the House.
John Thurso
The changes at St Stephen’s Entrance are intended to be temporary to reduce the queuing time at our public entrances. Work is progressing to improve the permanent public search facility at Cromwell Green. The redesign will deliver a more efficient search process and increase capacity. These changes are temporary and do not affect the building directly, so there was no prior consultation with English Heritage. However, work is also underway to explore, with English Heritage and Westminster City Council, installing a permanent canopy to the pedestrian walkway leading to the Cromwell Green Search Point, which would provide protection in bad weather.