Houses of Parliament: Education Centre

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean Excerpts

Monday 10th March 2014 Lords Chamber

[The Chairman of Committees]

That is absolutely true. The position of the House Committee was that in the relatively short term—and this demountable building will be in operation for, at the most, 10 years—it would be better for the permanent solution to be part of the restoration and renewal plans and that, in the mean time, it seemed to us that provision was capable of being made within the existing Parliamentary Estate, and particularly 1 Parliament Street, but that was not acceptable to the House of Commons.

[Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Con)]

My Lords, following up on the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, none of us is against people having access to this building and appreciating its aesthetic status, but is it not rather perverse to seek to damage that status in pursuit of the education which people are coming for?

[The Chairman of Committees]

Yes.