HC Deb 09 March 1998 vol 308 c37W
Ms Perham

To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee what measures have been(a) taken and (b) planned to assist access to the Palace of Westminster by people with disabilities; and if he will make a statement. [33804]

Sir Sydney Chapman

In 1993 the Accommodation and Works Committee considered a specialist's report with detailed proposals on facilities for people with disabilities in the Palace of Westminster. The Committee also took evidence from the All-Party Disablement Group and English Heritage. In deciding what should be done, the Committee sought to make possible dignified access for people with disabilities to the various parts of the building, while taking into account the need to preserve the historic fabric of the Palace.

A paper giving details of the individual schemes which were agreed by Committees of the two Houses has been placed in the Library. The cost of implementing all the recommendations proposed was estimated at £1,272,700. The improvements, taken together, give the following facilities: The new entrance at Black Rod's Garden enables people in wheelchairs to go directly to the start of the Line of Route. The ramps in Star Chamber Court allow people in wheelchairs access to the Strangers' Gallery via lift number 1 The new ramps at Commons Court and the Medals Corridor enable wheelchairs to be taken on to the Terrace, to the private dining rooms, and via lift number 15 to the principal floor and the committee rooms on the first and second floors. There are special lavatories for people with disabilities on each floor in the following locations: centre curtain corridor, lower waiting hall, opposite committee room 7 and opposite committee room 19 on the upper committee corridor. There are inductive loops in both Chambers, in all committee rooms except those designated for secure meetings, in the Grand Committee Room, and in the Crypt Chapel. Portable headsets are available on loan from the doorkeepers and from the pulpit on the main committee corridor.

Areas where access for people with disabilities is most difficult are the Grand Committee Room, Jubilee Room and Westminster Hall meeting rooms. The Accommodation and Works Committee recommended that to avoid damage to the historic fabric of the Hall, we should wait until Westminster Hall Cafeteria is converted to a Visitor Centre and at that time install wheelchair ramps, a lift to the Grand Committee Room and a lavatory for people with disabilities. For the interim, a chairlift has been installed on the staircase from Westminster Hall to the Grand Committee Room.

Plans are being prepared to install handrails in the galleries of the House of Commons Chamber. Details will be submitted to the Accommodation and Works Committee in due course.

In Portcullis House there will be a wheelchair ramp at the main entrance. Lifts will reach floors 1–5 and there will be lavatories on those levels for people with disabilities. There will, however, be six Members' rooms on the sixth floor which will be reached only by spiral staircase

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