Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how he plans for objections to Victoria Tower Gardens as a possible location for the National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre to be taken into account before a final decision is made.

Victoria Tower Gardens was recommended to Government as the most fitting site for the new national memorial to the Holocaust and co-located education centre by the cross-party Holocaust Memorial Foundation after a search of almost 50 sites across London.

The design competition – which includes many of the biggest names in the world – deliberately allows a process whereby the winning team can evolve their design in the light of public feedback, including from local residents. The final design will, of course, be subject to all the usual planning approvals.

Westminster already has a high tourist footfall and the Government hopes that people will be encouraged to go to the memorial as part of their visit. However, there will be full and comprehensive transport and people flow management developed as part of the plans.

It is right that Britain should have a fitting Memorial to the Holocaust together with an accompanying education centre to act as a voice against hatred in the modern world. And there is no more fitting place for such a bold statement of our values than next to Parliament at the heart of our democracy.

We have made a promise to Britain’s Holocaust survivors that we will do this – and we are going to keep that promise.