Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether there are sufficient CCTV cameras on the Parliamentary Estate to record all interactions involving Members of the House of Lords which might be considered contrary to the Code of Conduct.

Detailed discussion on the deployment of security cameras on the estate is not appropriate because of the security implications involved in the release of this information. The positioning of CCTV cameras on the estate is based on security requirements.

When deciding on the location of CCTV cameras, privacy and information assurance considerations have to be taken into account and the widespread deployment of CCTV to several parts of the estate would be an unacceptable invasion of privacy and yield only limited, if any, security benefit. Security cameras are of limited use in determining breaches of the code of conduct as they do not record sound.