Peers’ Entrance Security Door
Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Lord Harris of Haringey
The Senior Deputy Speaker (Lord Gardiner of Kimble)
My Lords, that is part of the future programme. I am afraid that, as we have seen with the door and the fence, proposals are coming for more security operations in this part of the Palace, and one of the areas that is going to be addressed is the point that the noble Lord raised.
Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)
My Lords, the Senior Deputy Speaker has faced several questions on this, but quite a number of them come back to the question of who makes decisions in this place. What are the lines of accountability? Is there a line of accountability through the Clerk of the Parliaments and, in this case, the clerk of the other place, as accounting officers, or is it through Members? Would it be possible for him to succinctly explain how this works and how decisions are made, and who therefore checks on these matters? There is a real danger that things will fall between matters for the administration and matters for Members—who is saying that Members want this?—and all those things.
The Senior Deputy Speaker (Lord Gardiner of Kimble)
The noble Lord makes a very valid point; this is something that has troubled me for some time. On the particular matter of the Peers’ Entrance, the project business case has undergone a process of standard professional scrutiny. The clerks of both Houses ultimately scrutinised and approved those costs following advice from the investment committee, which is chaired by the two finance directors of both Houses. As a result of what has happened, going forwards the Finance Committee in this House, which has received up-to-date reports on major programmes, will be asked to supplement its work with enhanced scrutiny of both costs and performance on a quarterly basis. I would say, however, as I am very close to my colleague, that the Clerk of the Parliaments is the accounting officer and legal officer, and in the end the responsibility is directly in his hands.
Palace of Westminster: Restoration and Renewal
Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Lord Harris of Haringey
The Senior Deputy Speaker (Lord Gardiner of Kimble)
My Lords, I want to take this opportunity to thank the noble Lords, Lord Vaux, Lord Collins and Lord Mackinlay, for being our members on the programme board. I endorse the noble Lord’s words about the work that is being done. All of us should take the opportunity, if we have not already done so, to look at this and to go on a tour of the Palace to see the work that we would need to do. In all the options that the programme board has been working on for the client board to review, we should consider costings, timing, risk and impact; it is important that we all study that report.
Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)
My Lords, I am grateful to the Senior Deputy Speaker for those answers. I suspect that there is a consensus in this Chamber that we should be getting on with this, rather than having constant delay, but I understand why there will perhaps be some MPs who are concerned about what will be the huge costs involved even if we go for the cheapest of the options, which is a full decant. Is a case that will demonstrate how that expenditure will benefit the rest of the country being prepared—for example, a procurement policy on where we will purchase various items and where the workforce will come from—and to demonstrate that this is part of delivering growth for the nation, rather than simply some frivolous expenditure on parliamentarians?
The Senior Deputy Speaker (Lord Gardiner of Kimble)
My Lords, interestingly, when the public were surveyed in March, 74% of them supported the preserving of the building for future generations. We should have confidence that this building represents across the world a very important feature—democracy—and how that should function and flourish. Clearly, it is important that we work with large companies and SMEs, encourage apprentices and create a range of employment opportunities and careers in what will be one of the most dramatic restoration projects across the world. We should be confident. They are all very good reasons for working with business to ensure that we get the best result for the nation. We should get on with it as soon as possible.