Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what is the justification for the difference in style and design between the steel bars on the West Front of the House of Lords and the bars surrounding the House of Commons.

Where possible, the newly installed fence along the West Front of the Palace of Westminster has been designed to be sympathetic to the existing fences while also meeting different and specific requirements. The primary driver of the difference is that the fence along the West Front has been designed to be completely removeable to accommodate the variety of access needs to Old Palace Yard. To achieve this, the fence posts had to be mounted onto the existing bi-steel barriers which make up the vehicle access (Corus) lane in Old Palace Yard. This meant it was not possible to match exactly the fence at Cromwell Green.