Question

To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what estimate the Commission has made of the potential (a) cost of and (b) savings from introducing the new system of Members' tours.

The new operating model for guided tours, which rationalises the operating models for Member tours, events tours and paid-for commercial tours, will require an upfront investment of £180,000 in 2018/19. It is forecast that, due to the lower running costs of the new operating model, this investment will be recouped and further savings of £300,000 will be achieved over five years. By comparison, the cost of continuing to run the existing operating model (where the same number of tours would be provided by a mixture of outsourcing to a private provider and relying on a pool of casual workers with no guaranteed work) is forecast to be £800,000 more than the new operating model over the same period.