§ Mr. Jim Spicerasked the Lord President of the Council if, in view of the fact that the House of Commons underground car park is consistently under-used, he will take steps to enable Members' secretaries to park there, especially in view of the fact that the facilities in Broad Sanctuary are to be withdrawn from their use in January.
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§ Mr. FootCar parking for the House of Commons was dealt with in the Second Report from the Services Committee of Session 1974 (HC 151), in the Fifth Report of Session 1975–76 (HC 577) and in the Second Report of Session 1976–77 (HC 54).
There are 496 places in the underground car park. Although there are days when it is under-used, this is not 481W consistently the case. For example, on one day in November, 435 places were filled.
Photo-identity pass holders—of whom there are over 1,200, including the staff of the House and Members' secretaries—may use the underground car park at weekends, including Fridays and during recesses. They may park on 4th and 5th floors. On one day in November the 4th Floor was completely filled and there were only 25 spaces left on the 5th Floor. 580 Members' private secretaries have secretaries' passes. It would, therefore, be impractical to allow them or other non-entitled pass holders to park in the underground car park except on the days shown above.