Peers’ Entrance Security Door
Debate between Lord Stoneham of Droxford and Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Senior Deputy Speaker (Lord Gardiner of Kimble)
I will need to take some of that away so that I get the precise answer. To deal with the noble Lord’s first question, one of the areas I think we have not been good at—by we, I mean the administration, candidly—is project delivery capability. One of the reasons it was decided that the commercial directorate is now a joint department, as the Leader of the House sought the House’s agreement on, is that we must improve project delivery capability. That is what we are looking at with the appointment of the commercial director. They are large sums of money but, in the end, this is what the commercial rates are. I am afraid I am still of the generation that thinks £100 is a lot of money, but that is the situation.
On the issue of the number of people involved in the manual use of the door while it is being repaired and made usable, I am assured that they are within the existing complement of members of staff. I am mindful that the noble Lord, Lord Hayward, has asked me those questions. I will return to him with answers and put a copy in the Library so that there is transparency.
Lord Stoneham of Droxford (LD)
My Lords, we have spent a lot of money on the entrance and another lot of money on the fencing, but we still have the bag searches being done inside that secure area, in a centre where a lot of people gather. When is somebody going to address the security problem of the bag searches in our midst?
The Senior Deputy Speaker (Lord Gardiner of Kimble)
My Lords, that is part of the future programme. I am afraid that, as we have seen with the door and the fence, proposals are coming for more security operations in this part of the Palace, and one of the areas that is going to be addressed is the point that the noble Lord raised.