Written question asked by Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 10 October 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 October 2007. It was answered by Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 16 October 2007 on behalf of the House of Commons Commission.

Escalators

Question: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the original life expectancy was of the escalators installed to access Portcullis House; how long elapsed before they were replaced; how much the recent works to install new escalators at this location have cost; and for what reason the motion sensitivity feature is not being deployed.

Answer: Escalators of this type would be expected to have a life expectancy of about 10 years—those in Portcullis House were installed in 1999 and replaced after eight years in 2007. The tender cost was £327,000 and the project was completed on budget. The motion sensitivity feature is not currently operational as a precautionary measure due to a component in similar escalator being found to be faulty. It is anticipated that the motion facility will be re-instated for Monday 12 November 2007.

Secondary information