Parliamentary Building (Hansard, 10 May 1972)

§ 35. Mr. Jessel
asked the Lord President of the Council, if he will arrange to set back the proposed new parliamentary building a sufficient distance to allow for an additional lane of eastbound traffic in Bridge Street, Westminster.

§ 36. Mr. Sydney Chapman
asked the Lord President of the Council if he will make a statement about the choice of design for the new parliamentary building, and the date of commencement of works.

§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Civil Service Department (Mr. Kenneth Baker)
I have been asked to reply, and I wish to convey to the House the apologies of my right hon. Friend the Lord President of the Council, who is indisposed.
The Services Committee is at present considering in detail the proposals for the new parliamentary building, including the question of siting, design and date of commencement. I would anticipate that a full report will be made to the House after Whitsun.

Mr. Jesse'
Will my hon. Friend ask the Services Committee to consider setting back the building to allow for an extra traffic lane? Does he not think it would be sensible to use the opportunity of the reconstruction of the buildings to take action to relieve the traffic congestion in the area of Parliament Square generally?

§ Mr. Baker
I am sure that the Services Committee will consider both those points, and in particular the question of the extra traffic lane.

§ Mr. Chapman
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his reply, but will he bear in mind the concern in the architectural profession that the architects of the winning design are being blamed for the brief they were given, which they were obviously told to hold to? Will he consider an early decision on the building and also the possibility of a debate at the earliest opportunity after Whitsun?

§ Mr. Baker
It would be superfluous for me to assure the House that there will be a debate. This is such an important matter that there will certainly be a debate upon it. I will not poach upon my right hon. Friend's prerogative and suggest a date, but it will certainly be at some stage after we receive the report of the Services Committee.

§ Mr. Lipton
Are the Government paying heed to the observations of the Greater London Council, which has many reservations about what the Government intend to do, in particular about the horrible idea of a five-deck car park in New Palace Yard which the GLC thinks should be nearer Victoria Tower?

§ Mr. Baker
This is not a matter for the Government. The Services Committee of the House is examining it and it will be a matter for the House.

§ Mr. Kimball
Is my hon. Friend aware that many of us feel that not only should this project be set back in position but that it should be set back into the far distant future?

§ Mr. Baker
I am sure that the Services Committee will note the comment of my hon. Friend.

§ Mr. Crosland
We must of course debate the matter in the House, but is it not impossible to have a serious debate upon the proposal for this building without knowing what, if anything, is proposed for the new Home Office building and the Scotland Yard and Richmond Terrace site? The Government have had the report of the inspector who held the inquiry into that site for about a year and a half. When are we likely to have that information?

§ Mr. Baker
The right hon. Gentleman raises very much wider points, but I assure him that the Services Committee is seized of the urgency of this matter, and I am informed that it expects to report shortly after Whitsun.

§ Sir D. Walker-Smith
Does my hon. Friend agree that this matter must be looked at in the perspective of the environmental effect of the whole of the surrounding area and therefore is not only a domestic matter, important though that may be, for the House of Commons or the Houses of Parliament?

§ Mr. Baker
My right hon. and learned Friend raises an important matter, and I am certain that the Services Committee will also take these wider considerations into account.

§ Mr. David Steel
Reverting to the question of an extra traffic lane in Bridge Street, is the hon. Gentleman aware that the Services Committee has already taken the view that in the long run there should be no traffic at all in Bridge Street, far less an extra traffic lane?

§ Mr. Baker
This must await the report of the Services Committee. Obviously this is a matter which will be considered.