House of Commons Administration Committee House of Commons Accommodation Third Report of Session 2005–06 HC 1279 House of Commons Administration Committee House of Commons Accommodation Third Report of Session 2005–06 Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 27 June 2006 HC 1279 Published on 6 July 2006 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 The Administration Committee The Administration Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to consider the services provided for and by the House and to make recommendations thereon to the House of Commons Commission or to the Speaker. Current membership Mr Frank Doran MP (Labour, Aberdeen North) (Chairman) Mr Bob Ainsworth MP (Labour, Coventry North East) Janet Anderson MP (Labour, Rossendale & Darwen) Derek Conway MP (Conservative, Old Bexley & Sidcup) Frank Dobson MP (Labour, Holborn & St Pancras) Mr Brian H Donohoe MP (Labour, Central Ayrshire) Mr Neil Gerrard MP (Labour, Walthamstow) Mr Mark Harper MP (Conservative, Forest of Dean) Helen Jones MP (Labour, Warrington North) Mr Kevan Jones MP (Labour, Durham North) Mr Greg Knight MP (Conservative, Yorkshire East) David Lepper MP (Labour/Co-operative, Brighton Pavilion) Mr Andrew Robathan MP (Conservative, Blaby) John Thurso MP (Liberal Democrat, Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross) Pete Wishart MP (Scottish National, Perth & North Perthshire) The following were also Members of the Committee during the inquiry: Peter Luff MP (Conservative, Mid Worcestershire) The late Mr Eric Forth MP (Conservative, Bromley & Chiselhurst) Powers The powers of the committee are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 139. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk. Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee are on the Internet and can be accessed via www.parliament.uk/ac Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Steven Mark and Nerys Welfoot (Clerks), Ameet Chudasama (Chief Office Clerk) and Jane Lauder (Secretary). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Administration Committee, Committee Office (Palace of Westminster), House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 2471; the Committee’s email address is [email protected] Administration Committee: House of Commons Accommodation 1 Contents Report Page Summary 3 1 Introduction 5 2 Facts, figures and a brief history 7 The current Estate 7 Ownership and allocation 12 Current strategy 15 History 15 Accommodation review 17 3 Occupants and their accommodation needs 18 Members 18 Members’ staff 20 Temporary staff 21 Front bench and party parliamentary allocation 22 Staff of the House 25 Third parties 26 Non-office accommodation 26 Residential accommodation 27 Meeting rooms 27 Storage 28 Families and children 28 Non-usable space 29 4 Constraints 30 Legacy building issues 30 Palace of Westminster 31 Furniture 31 Information and Communication Technology 32 Expectations 33 Flux and flexibility 35 Systems 36 5 Proposals 39 Devising a strategy 39 Refurbishing sub-standard accommodation 40 Improving Information and Communications Technology 41 Furnishing offices for Members and their staff 42 Managing demand for Members’ staff accommodation 43 6 Conclusion 46 Conclusions and recommendations 47 2 Administration Committee: House of Commons Accommodation Formal minutes 53 List of witnesses 56 List of written evidence 57 Administration Committee Reports in this Parliament 59 Administration Committee: House of Commons Accommodation 3 Summary The Palace of Westminster has for many years been unable to meet the reasonable aspirations of Members of Parliament for office accommodation. In response to this situation, a secure and coherent Estate has been created, extending beyond the Palace to the north of Bridge Street. Almost all Members now have at least one room of their own, and many are clearly able to work comfortably within the offices they have been allocated. But expectations continue to exceed the supply of available space; and some Members remain housed in rooms which are frankly inadequate. Pressure from Members for additional space over the decades has coincided with substantial increases in the numbers of staff of the House, who also need to be provided with a working environment of reasonable quality. The accommodation needs of Members’ staff at Westminster are uncertain because their numbers depend on individual Members’ preferences and circumstances. Failure to meet expectations is as much of a problem as the reality of the accommodation available; so too is failure to establish an attractive alternative for Members to basing their staff at Westminster, by providing reliable facilities for remote working. In this Report, we describe the current situation in terms of buildings, numbers of occupants, allocation processes and existing strategy (Part Two); we assess the accommodation needs of the main occupant groups and the extent to which these are currently met (Part Three); we describe the constraints by which the provision of accommodation is bound (Part Four); and finally, we set out our proposals for improving the current provision on a strategic basis (Part Five). Our proposals focus on devising a long-term accommodation strategy, refurbishing sub- standard accommodation, improving Information and Communications Technology, particularly access from the constituency, furnishing offices according to a standard which meets the needs of Members, and better managing demand for accommodation, particularly for Members’ staff. Administration Committee: House of Commons Accommodation 5 1 Introduction 1. The last inquiry by a Committee of the House into the accommodation provided on the Parliamentary Estate was conducted more than 15 years ago, and focussed on the construction of Portcullis House.1 We decided soon after we were appointed by the House that the time was right to conduct a thorough review of accommodation, given the continuing pressures on the Estate and the fact that some office accommodation remains of an unacceptably low standard, both for Members of Parliament and for other occupants of the Estate. We were also aware of a lack of clarity about the standards of accommodation to be expected by Members and other occupants of the Estate, and about how space on the Estate is used and allocated. 2. The purpose of the House of Commons Administration is to provide facilities for the elected representatives of the British people to meet, deliberate and legislate, to control the executive and the raising and spending of taxes, and to secure the redress of grievances. Members of Parliament should be provided with the means of carrying out these demanding tasks in the modern world, including adequate accommodation and communications facilities. 3. We focus unapologetically in this Report on the rights and needs of Members of Parliament, in whose interests the House has appointed us to act. As we will show, the accommodation available for Members has improved dramatically in recent years with the expansion of the Parliamentary Estate into new and refurbished buildings to the north of Bridge Street. Many Members now have adequate office accommodation at Westminster—but some still do not. We examine why this is the case, and we assess the scope for improving both the extent and the quality of the accommodation available. We acknowledge that accommodation is a limited resource, and we suggest ways in which this resource could be used more efficiently. The numbers of staff of the House and Members’ staff have grown significantly in recent years: they also have a right to expect decent accommodation, and we consider the extent to which this accommodation can be provided at Westminster without infringing on the justified expectations of Members. 1 Select Committee on House of Commons (Services), Second Report of Session 1990–91, New Parliamentary Building (Phase 2): The Initial Brief, HC 551 6 Administration Committee: House of Commons Accommodation 4. We announced our inquiry on 20 January 2006 with terms of reference as follows: a) To assess the existing standards for the office accommodation of Members and their staff, and for other occupants of the Parliamentary Estate. b) To assess whether the accommodation available on the Estate is currently appropriately allocated. c) To examine ways of improving the use of existing space. d) To assess, in the light of the above, whether the needs of the occupants of the Estate, and Members in particular, can be met within the existing buildings, or whether a further expansion of the Estate will be required to meet reasonable demand. e) To suggest how future demand for office accommodation might be managed. 5. In response to our announcement we received written submissions from 29 Members, nine Members’ staff and two staff of the House, and further written evidence from the Board of Management and from representatives of various groups of occupants on the Estate. We heard evidence in private from current and former Accommodation Whips, from senior staff of the House, and from representatives of some of the main groups of occupants of the Estate: Members’ staff, staff of the House and the Press. We are publishing the majority of this evidence. We have seen for ourselves a cross-section of Members’ accommodation in the Palace and in the northern part of the Estate as well as some offices occupied by staff of the House and have spoken to the people working there. The Serjeant at Arms has provided us with plans of the Estate and statistical information. We are grateful to all those who have helped us in our inquiry. 6. In part two of this Report, we set out a factual overview of the buildings currently occupied by the House of Commons and a description of how this space is allocated, followed by a brief history of the events that have led to the current situation.