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Parliament Square

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Wallace of Saltaire, for introducing this short debate. It is an important issue. Noble Lords have argued for improvements in Parliament Square, and they may well be right. The noble Viscount, Lord Falkland, was right: as Mr Johnson was elected with a different manifesto from his predecessor, it would be odd if he did not review his predecessor’s decisions and talk to Westminster City Council for himself. I am not sure of the democratic credentials of the world squares group, but the primary stakeholders are Londoners, who elected Mr Johnson. It is important to remember that the scheme is under review; it has not been shelved. No doubt the review will take into account the needs of Londoners in particular, of the nation in general, of tourists—all noble Lords have spoken about the needs of tourists; so far as they are concerned, the situation is unsatisfactory—of Parliament and those who work in the Parliamentary Estate, of the abbey, and of security. I do not propose to explore security in detail for obvious reasons. Can the noble Lord the Chairman of Committees assure the House that its officials have suitable means to advise the mayor’s review team where we have a locus as a House? Is he absolutely confident that the review team and Westminster City Council will take into account, but not necessarily agree with, all that has been said tonight? Finally, I undertake to ensure that the mayor’s office is fully informed of our deliberations tonight.