Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker on what dates in the last 20 years full scale evacuation drills of the House of Lords parts of the Palace of Westminster were undertaken, and which of these involved (1) the whole Palace building occupied by the Lords or parts, (2) the main Committee corridor, (3) an evacuation whilst the House was sitting, (4) the use of volunteer staff, (5) the general public present in the building as well as the relevant staff members, and (6) the provision of reports including timings and lessons learned, and whether copies of the reports on these events will be placed in the Library of the House.

Annual Fire Drills are required to be established and implemented by the Responsible Persons as set out in Article 15 (a) of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The records that have been possible to investigate do not provide detail of evacuations for the past 20 years. The information below, taken from Fire Safety Committee reports, details full evacuations across the Estate on the following dates:

2016: 29 February and 31 October

2017: 10 July

2018: 21 May and 17 December

2019: 24 June

2020: Evacuation drills were scheduled for June and December but were postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions and advice on social distancing

2021: 13 September

2022: 7 February and 6 December

2023: 22 May

1. All fire drills are undertaken across the whole of The Palace of Westminster.

2. The main Committee corridor is evacuated under the Palace of Westminster drill.

3. None of the drills listed above have been undertaken while the House is sitting. The Services Committee discussed a possible evacuation when the Palace is at its busiest at its July 2023 meeting.

4. The efficacy of the evacuation process relies on suitably trained staff across the estate to assist with each evacuation. House of Lords Doorkeepers have received specific fire safety training on the evacuation of the Chamber. Other areas are managed by Security staff and House of Lords administration staff who have volunteered to be Fire Marshals and have undertaken training on evacuations. Specific drills have used volunteers to simulate mobility impaired persons in June 2019 and December 2022, and as part of an evacuation of a Lords Committee drill in January 2020.

5. All drills incorporate the general public and all staff working in the area, they also incorporate any other events happening in the Palace at the time including line of route tours, catering events and educational tours.

6. All evacuations lead to reports issued to the Fire Safety Committee. Actions arising from these reports are communicated to the House of Lords Services Committee and are reported on by both the Director of Estates for the House of Lords and the Fire Safety Team. The minutes of the Services Committee are available online and in the Printed Paper Office.

The Estates and Fire Risk Management Team also report annually on the completion statistics for fire training across the House of Lords Estate and on the latest fire drills undertaken.