Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to his Written Answer on 19 December 2023 (HL926), what is the annual cost to Parliament of a traffic marshal on the Westminster estate.

Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble

It remains the case that Strategic Estates contracts for a service rather than paying individual marshals directly. Because working patterns and shifts are variable, it is not possible to identify accurately the annual cost of individual marshals on the Parliamentary estate. For financial year 24/25 the estimated total cost of traffic marshals to Parliament, excluding those marshalling the underground car park, is £606K excluding VAT. Illustratively, the cost of the provision of a marshal service at one marshal point for 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year would be approximately £63K excluding VAT. However, actual marshalling hours vary according to operational need, and this sum is not what an individual traffic marshal would receive in pay. In common with all of our contractors and sub-contractors working in London, we require that our traffic marshals are paid at least the London Living Wage.

Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to his Written Answer on 19 September 2023 (HL9892), when he was informed that there was more up to date information than he provided in that Answer, as set out in his Written Answer on 5 March 2024 (HL2638).

Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble

I was recently made aware that the answer to HL9892 on 19 September 2023 used data collected from a study in 2019 which looked at the total number of vehicles accessing and leaving the Estate from both Carriage Gates and Black Rod's Garden. This data was used as it was from a study carried out by traffic consultants prior to the COVID pandemic and helped inform the implementation of the one-way system in January 2023. The study provided an average estimate of traffic movements on the Estate of circa 3,500 vehicle movements in sitting times, compared to 2,500 vehicle movements during recess periods.

Since the implementation of the one-way system in January 2023 counting has been carried out internally, and the system was refined to provide more precise figures, rather than an estimate. This data was used to answer the written question HL2638 on 5 March 2024, to give an average of 4,052 vehicles in sitting times and 2,285 in recess, based on the data collected in the 2023 calendar year. Unfortunately, it was not identified in HL2638 that this was based on 2023 figures rather than the original 2019 data.

Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to his Written Answer on 28 March (HL5836), between December 2023 and March 2025, what was the percentage increase in cost to Parliament of providing a traffic marshal service working 12 hours a day, 5 days a week and 50 weeks a year.

Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The cost of the provision of a marshal service at one marshal point for 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year has not changed between December 2023 and March 2025.

Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to his Written Answer on 28 March (HL5836), what was the cost in 2023 to Parliament including VAT of a traffic marshal service working 12 hours a day, 5 days a week and 50 weeks a year.

Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble

In December 2023, the cost of the provision of a marshal service at one marshal point for 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year would have been approximately £75K including VAT.

Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to his Written Answer on 28 March (HL5836), what is the cost to Parliament including VAT of a traffic marshal service working 12 hours a day, 5 days a week and 50 weeks a year.

Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Further to the Written Answer on 28 March 2025 (HL5836), the cost of the provision of a marshal service at one marshal point for 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year would be approximately £75K including VAT.

Found: Letter dated 03/12/2025 from Baroness Twycross to Lord Hayward regarding the Football Governance Bill

Found: Letter dated 03/12/2025 from Baroness Twycross to Lord Hayward regarding the Football Governance Bill