§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many times in each of the last three years sewage has overflowed into the House of Commons police mess by St. Stephen's entrance; when was the last such occasion; and what was the longest average time taken before the sewage was cleared from the floor.
§ Mr. FreesonSewage overflowed into the police mess once in 1973 and once in 1974. It took two hours to clear the floor in 1973. There is no record of how long clearance took in 1974. The drain was also blocked four times in 1972, 1973 and 1974 without seepage. Clearance started in all cases within 15 minutes of the incident being reported. I am informed that when the drain was blocked on Thursday 19th June, a slight amount of water leaked from underneath the manhole cover in the police mess but there was no sewage.
After the last incident of actual spillage of sewage in 1974, the Westminster Hall canteen was disconnected from the run of drains under the police mess and reconnected to the new drainage in New Palace Yard. When this work was done, all the drains under the police mess were taken up and relaid, and since then no blockages occurred until Thursday 19th June. This involved a slight seepage of water, but no spillage of sewage, probably caused by a temporary lavatory set up for the use of the PBC during the experimental recording of parliamentary sessions. This will be removed in two 289W weeks' time and further trouble is not expected.