Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether all visitors to the Westminster estate who have not been issued a pass are required to be accompanied by a passholder when crossing the internal spine road of the estate.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
All visitors on the Parliamentary Estate must be accompanied by a full pass holder at all times when in all non-public areas of the Parliamentary Estate. As the internal spine road is a non-public area, visitors without a pass are required to be accompanied by a passholder when crossing it.
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what is the change in usage, on an average daily basis, of the River Restaurant between (1) sitting, and (2) recess, weekdays.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Wednesdays are the busiest days for the River Restaurant since the COVID-19 pandemic. There were an average of 945 transactions per day across four sitting Wednesdays between 18 October and 15 November 2023, and 429 transactions per day across three recess Wednesdays between September and October 2023.
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to his Written Answers on 30 January (HL4799) and 13 February (HL5334), what review of the roles of traffic marshals on the parliamentary estate has been undertaken, and when.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The role of traffic marshals has been reviewed regularly since their implementation. Over the summer, a thorough review of the current traffic management system, including traffic marshals, was carried out. The review recommended the one-way traffic system remain in place, but also recognised that users of the Estate have become used to the traffic system and that it is now part of “business as usual.” This means that while the risk assessment still recommends traffic mitigations, including traffic marshals, the number of marshals can be reduced. The number will be revised to five operating traffic marshals, plus one supervisor and two relief marshals, down from a previous 11 marshals.
Aside from the review mentioned above, the traffic management system is reviewed whenever there is a change or incident related to logistics and traffic on the Estate.
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to his Written Answers on 30 January (HL4799) and 13 February (HL5334), which stakeholders requested traffic marshals prior to their introduction and to whom those requests were communicated.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
A wide range of stakeholders were engaged before the implementation of the one-way traffic management system by Strategic Estates Construction Management Team. The key stakeholder groups were Parliamentary Safety Assurance Board (PSAB) and the Logistics Steering Group, a sub-group of PSAB. Concerns for stakeholders were the management of interface between pedestrians and traffic, the need to accommodate quick changes to traffic management due to events or incidents, and that Police are there for security and not to direct traffic. As such, traffic marshals were identified as best practice to meet the needs of the Estate. The traffic management solution, including use of traffic marshals, was approved by PSAB and the Logistics Steering Group prior to implementation.
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to his Written Answers on 30 January (HL4799) and 13 February (HL5334), why the risk assessment undertaken made no reference to (1) existing control measures, or (2) the high level of driver certification of most drivers using the parliamentary estate.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The risk assessment did take into consideration existing control measures.
There are users with differing levels of driver certification on the estate and this is taken into consideration when implementing traffic control measures. Moreover, a large proportion of drivers with a high level of driver certification using the Estate does not lessen Parliament’s legal responsibilities, or commitment to industry best practice, to provide safe access and egress for pedestrians through segregation or management of areas where vehicles and pedestrians share the same space.
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to his Written Answers on 30 January (HL4799) and 13 February (HL5334), what comparable sites were considered, when identifying best practice, which have multiple police on duty at exits onto the public highway.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Direct comparisons were not made to other sites which have multiple police on duty at exits on to the public highway. The traffic control measures that have been put in place were based on risk assessments, traffic modelling carried out prior to the operation of the one-way system, stakeholder engagement, and construction industry best practice. On construction sites pedestrians and traffic are almost always segregated, but where this is not possible, such as on the Parliamentary Estate, additional mitigations are required.
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to his Written Answers on 30 January (HL4799) and 13 February (HL5334), what is the reduction in the number of (1) traffic levels, and (2) pedestrian usage, on the parliamentary estate during recess periods.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
For vehicles, the Palace of Westminster typically shows a 30% reduction in vehicle movements during recess periods. During sitting periods, a typical week will have circa 3,500 vehicle movements compared to 2,500 vehicle movements during recess periods.
Pedestrian usage remains remarkably consistent during recess periods. This is because staff remain working on the Palace of Westminster and visitor numbers increase, particularly during the summer recess periods.
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what were the unemployment percentage rates in each parliamentary constituency in April 2010; and what are the equivalent percentages per constituency for July 2023.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The estimated unemployment rates for the year to March 2010 and the year to December 2022 (the latest available data at a constituency level) are published and are given in the attached spreadsheet. As survey based estimates they are subject to sampling variation, which can be quite large for these small areas.
The information requested is also available at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp
Guidance for users can be found at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to his Written Answers on 30 January (HL4799) and 13 February (HL5205), whether a review will be conducted of the cost involved of having traffic controllers stationed on the parliamentary estate during the current building works; and what assessment has been made of the proportionality of that cost to the risks identified.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Strategic Estates are reviewing the number of traffic marshals on the Parliamentary estate, including the cost. A period of review is necessary to analyse the operation and impact of the one-way system and the role of traffic marshals. The review will look to reduce the number of marshals, if appropriate.
When building work is undertaken on the estate there is an obligation to do everything reasonably practicable to ensure safety and minimise the impact to the business of both Houses. The introduction of traffic marshals was based on risk assessments and follows the published guidance from the Health and Safety Executive. The guidance states that pedestrians and traffic should be segregated on construction sites. As this is not possible on the Parliamentary Estate, additional mitigations are required. It is deemed, therefore, that traffic controllers on the estate are necessary while construction work is taking place.
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker how many road traffic accidents occurred on the Parliamentary Estate in each of the last five calendar years resulting in an injury to a person; and for each accident (1) what was the severity of the incident, and (2) on what date it occurred.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
In the last five years there have been three accident reports which are detailed below. The three incidents resulted in injury. ‘Near misses’ and incidents without injury have not been included.
The total number of reported injuries should be considered in the context of lower vehicle and pedestrian numbers as a result of COVID-19 restrictions in the five-year period.
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