§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee (1) if he will make an assessment of the relationship between office space in the Palace and the direct reporting of parliamentary speeches and answers; [16992]
(2) if he will estimate the office space available to the media in the Palace in 1975, 1985 and 1995; and what policy considerations underlie this allocation; [16991]
(3) if he will arrange for the Committee to review the need for office space for the media and recommend whether the amount should be decreased. [16993]
§ Mr. Ray PowellOffice space currently available to the media in the Palace of Westminster is estimated to total some 700 sq m. Comparable figures for 1975 and 1985 are unavailable, but I do not believe that the amount of space occupied has changed markedly in recent years. The Committee currently has no plans specifically to review the requirements of the media, but a study is currently being prepared on the utilisation of space on the parliamentary estate to the end of the century. The offices occupied by the media will be included in that study, which will be considered by the Committee in due course.