Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 5 February (HL Deb, col 1428), whether they have conducted a full security assessment of the implications of siting the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens; if so, by whom; and whether any such assessment is available for scrutiny.

The Government funds a national network of Police Counter Terrorism Security Advisors (CTSAs) to ensure owners, operators, and local authorities, are aware of terrorist threat methodologies and steps they can take to reduce their vulnerability to terrorist attacks. This includes the provision of advice and guidance on protective security measures to planners, designers and architects at significant new builds such as the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre. A Metropolitan Police Service CTSA has been part of the security assessment process for the Holocaust memorial, working jointly with the other partners involved.

Security advice, as part of planning policies in England, is provided through the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework and associated Guidance. On 12 July 2017, the Chief Planning Officer wrote to all local planning authorities to reiterate the role the planning system plays in ensuring appropriate measures are in place to help prevent terrorist threats. There is also a range of further Government advice and guidance available online, including the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure’s ‘Protecting Crowded Places: Design and Technical Issues’ guide.