Written question asked by Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 25 October 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 2 November 2004. It was answered by Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 2 November 2004 on behalf of the House of Commons Commission.

House of Commons Commission

Question: To ask the honourable Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many lifts there are on the Parliamentary Estate; and how much energy was consumed by these lifts in each of the last three years; what measures are in place to ensure that lifts on the Parliamentary Estate minimise energy use by only moving to a floor when requested to by a user; how many escalators there are on the Parliamentary Estate; how many of these are potentially motion-activated; and how much energy was consumed by escalators in the last year for which figures are available; for what reasons the escalators connecting Portcullis House with the main building are no longer motion-activated. - Inc figures.

Answer: Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire representing the House of Commons Commission (1) how many lifts there are on the Parliamentary Estate; and how much energy was consumed by these lifts in each of the last three years; [194332] (2) what measures are in place to ensure that lifts on the Parliamentary Estate minimise energy use by only moving to a floor when requested to by a user; [194333] (3) how many escalators there are on the Parliamentary Estate; how many of these are potentially motion-activated; and how much energy was consumed by escalators in the last year for which figures are available; [194334] (4) for what reasons the escalators connecting Portcullis House with the main building are no longer motion-activated. [194335] Sir Archy Kirkwood: There are 66 passenger and heavy goods lifts on the parliamentary estate. The optimal balance between energy efficiency, short waiting times and emergency provision is subject to an engineered solution in each location. There are three escalators on the estate and all have the potential to be motion activated. The escalators at Portcullis House are not currently motion activated for reasons of safety and the high traffic rate during working hours. They change to manual control outside sitting hours. The lifts and escalators do not have individual electricity meters.

Secondary information