The statue May Flights of Angels sing thee to thy Rest by Eleanor Crook was commissioned and approved by the Lord Speaker’s Advisory Panel on Works of Art, with consultation and additional approval sought from other stakeholders, including the Royal Household. The Panel considered the aesthetic and operational impact of the sculpture in its eventual position, including other artworks in the area, and viewed the site to ensure conformity with its surroundings. The artist conducted extensive research to match the style of the sculpture to elements of the building fabric.

Essential works to lift HOP12 as part of the overall lift refurbishment programme are expected to last until the summer recess.

It has been confirmed by an independent assessment undertaken by an accessibility specialist that the Peers' Entrance provides an accessible step free access into the Palace of Westminster in accordance with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and relevant Building Regulations.

Since its establishment in 2020, the Restoration and Renewal (R&R) Delivery Authority has developed a 3D Building Information Model of the Palace of Westminster for the purposes of the R&R Programme. This model is able to generate drawings and plans of any part of the building, as well as enable digital rehearsals prior to physical works taking place.

The Procedure and Privileges Committee has not considered this specific issue. The Committee keeps the procedures of the House under review, and I am always happy to discuss them with members.

The Procedure and Privileges Committee’s Third Report of session 2023-24 (HL Paper 73) recommended various changes intended to encourage brevity during the amending stages of bills, including at report stage and during Lords consideration of Commons amendments. It recommended that the advisory speaking time for backbench members during all amending stages should be reduced from 15 minutes to 10 minutes, except where a backbencher moves the lead amendment in a group (when they would have 15 minutes,). It also recommended guidance that members other than the minister pressing or withdrawing an amendment at the end of a debate should be brief. These recommendations were agreed by the House on 19 March 2024, and the guidance is set out in paragraph 4.41 of the Companion to the Standing Orders.

The report is available online here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5804/ldselect/ldproced/73/73.pdf and is attached to this answer.

The Procedure and Privileges Committee will continue to keep the House’s procedures under review.

While no breaches of security attributable to the absence of automation or access control at this door have been recorded in the past year, the measures have been implemented as a proportionate and forward-looking security enhancement, designed to mitigate the risk of unauthorised access, and form part of a wider programme of work addressing identified vulnerabilities across the Palace. This door is on the line of route for tours, which increases the likelihood and risk that individuals on a tour could leave the line of route via this door and access restricted areas. The weight of these doors, combined with pass readers, makes manual operation onerous. Door automation was therefore required as an accessibility measure to enable the installation of access control.

The speed of automation complies with British Standards based on the size and weight of the doors; however, the smoothness of operation of the doors at Peers’ Lobby is not optimal. This is due to the requirement to avoid any surface mounted equipment in this high heritage area, and the complexities of an underfloor mechanism. Overhead door automation systems operate better and are used whenever possible.

The access control system protects against unauthorised excursion from the line of route into areas of restricted access to non-pass holders. Arrangements are in place to ensure that Members’ ability to access the division lobbies is not impeded when the House of Lords is sitting.

Should Members encounter any access issues with doors in this area during a sitting of the House, they should notify the Doorkeepers or Security Officer nearby.

Black Rod would be happy to meet with any Members who would like to discuss queries or concerns about access around the Chamber and division routes.

The existing security and access arrangements have been developed to allow Members to move around and between parts of the Estate safely. Black Rod’s Office will continue to monitor this situation, working with security officers and the Metropolitan Police to ensure that these arrangements are operating as intended. Black Rod would welcome any further details on this matter.

Average attendance for a sitting Friday in the 2024-26 Parliamentary Session to date is 267 Members, with an average cost in members’ allowances claims for those dates of £84,248.00.

Outside of Members’ allowance claims, the approximate net cost of catering services on a sitting Friday estimated to rise at 3pm are approximately £2,530. This is to provide the additional catering services required, (that would normally be closed on a non-sitting Friday), namely; Peers Dining Room, Peers Guest Room and Peers Long Room. There are additionally approximately £4,500 in police overtime costs.

Parliament uses an industry-standard web filtering and blocking solution across its Wi-Fi services, including visitor Wi-Fi. The system blocks categories of sites and content that are inappropriate for the parliamentary network environment, including pornographic material and sites intended to circumvent cyber security controls. The Parliamentary Digital Service does not control which websites are put into which category by the filtering service; this is an automated process conducted at an industry level. Parliament does not maintain a list of websites which cannot be accessed from its network, and any such list would be variable. PDS can unblock individual sites if they are assessed as safe and a specific request is made to them.

In the event that pedestrian numbers were to become a risk to Members’ safety and ability to access Parliament, contingency arrangements are in place to ensure that Members can continue to enter and exit the estate in order to carry out their duties. Doorkeepers and Security Officers will continue to monitor the situation throughout the duration of the works.

Once the pedestrian routes closed during the current phase of works to Victoria Tower are reinstated, they will enable peers and others to make full use of the pavement on the eastern side of Millbank and Abingdon Street and also access the permanent visitor and passholder entrances at Black Rod’s Garden entrance, which will reopen. The full scaffolding build is currently due to complete in mid-2028. However, we plan to reinstate pedestrian access well ahead of that, and subject to the necessary enabling works and gantry installation being delivered on schedule, this is currently expected to be possible in the second quarter of 2027.

The ParliamentNow app is based on out-of-date technology that is no longer supported on the Apple and Google app stores, making it a potential security risk.

There are very few users of the app - the ParliamentNow app has on average 160 monthly users, compared to 51,000 monthly views of the equivalent webpages. Maintaining a standalone app is a disproportionate use of Parliament’s resources, when all the information is readily available on the website https://now.parliament.uk/.

While the ParliamentNow app is being decommissioned, and will no longer be supported from late March, the Parliament Now website will continue to be available at https://now.parliament.uk/.The website delivers a more accessible and future-proof service, better supporting reliable use with both current and emerging assistive technologies.

App-like shortcuts for the website can be set up on tablets and mobile devices to take users directly to the relevant content and provide all the same information, without the requirement for a bespoke mobile app. Instructions on how to set up an Annunciator icon on your phone can be found on ParliNet and support for members is available from the Parliamentary Digital Service Drop-In and Support Desk.

I am informed that the tensile barrier has been placed in front of the statue of the Earl of Chatham to prevent any damage during public tours of the Palace of Westminster. While it has not been possible to identify who has placed them there on each occasion, the relevant teams have been reminded to alert visitors not to touch the statues and for the barriers to be removed once public tours have concluded. The tensile barrier originally in front of the statue will be replaced with a rope barrier as soon as is practical.

The maximum of 6 questions for written answer a day is a longstanding convention of the House. Following a recommendation in the Procedure Committee’s second report (1988-89), the House agreed that this convention should be recorded in the Companion to the Standing Orders. The Committee stated that this convention ‘helps ensure prompt attention for those questions which are tabled’. In 2012, the Procedure Committee recommended that members should be limited to a maximum of 12 questions for written answer each sitting week: this was agreed by the House on 26 March 2012.

The cap on the number of oral questions a member can table of 7 questions in each calendar year was recommended by the Procedure Committee and agreed by the House on 24 April 2013. This followed a consultation carried out by the Procedure Committee which concluded that the House should encourage participation by a greater number of members. Before the cap was implemented only six members tabled more than 7 questions a year. The limit of four topical oral questions was agreed by the House in the Procedure Committee’s fifth report (2001-02) as part of the recommendation of the Leader’s Group on working practices.

The Procedure and Privileges Committee keeps the procedures of the House under review, and I am always happy to discuss the procedures of the House with members.

The arrangements for tabling amendments to bills are agreed by the House. No limit applies, in part, because the number of amendments required to achieve a desired change to a bill can vary depending on the structure and complexity of the bill in question and the nature of the change being sought. Members are not able to table an amendment to a Bill which is identical in form or effect to an amendment already in the list. The Procedure and Privileges Committee keeps the House’s procedures under regular review, and I am always happy to discuss these procedures with Members.

The area around the base of Victoria Tower is currently a restricted access construction site with preparatory groundwork, including deep excavations, underway ahead of the full scaffolding build later this year. It is not safe for Member or public access or thoroughfare. The workers who need to access the area do so with numerous safety measures in place. A pedestrian walkway will be reinstated as part of the final full scaffolding build.

The R&R Client Board (the two House Commissions meeting jointly) published a report, Delivering restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster: the costed proposals, on 5 February 2026. Chapters 4 to 6 provide preliminary information on catering proposals under the different R&R options (full decant; enhanced maintenance and improvement (two variants); and continued presence).

The Client Board has recommended that two options—the full decant and enhanced maintenance and improvement plus (EMI+) options—are taken forward for development alongside a package of phase one works.

Under the full decant option, the House of Lords would decant into the QEII Conference Centre (subject to negotiation), although there would be an ongoing need for the Southern Estate (Millbank House and Fielden House) to accommodate some Members’ offices and House business areas that do not need to be close to the temporary Chamber. In the QEII, catering would be provided for Members and staff although this would be reduced compared to the current provision. There would not be dedicated banqueting facilities. Multi-functional meeting rooms could be used to host member-sponsored events.

Under full decant, the House of Commons would decant to the Northern Estate on a phased basis. Catering provision would be reduced compared to current provision although Richmond House would accommodate a Members’ Tearoom adjacent to the Commons Chamber throughout the Programme. Catering would also be available in Portcullis House, 1 Parliament Street and Norman Shaw North. There would be no bar or banqueting facilities.

The EMI+ option has an objective to decant not more than 30% of the Palace (by usable area) at any one time. The House of Lords would decant into the QEII Conference Centre and the House of Commons, subject to the agreement of the House of Lords, would use the Lords Chamber while work was taking place on the Commons Chamber, for up to two years. Catering for the Lords in the QEII Centre would be the same as under the full decant option and there would again be an ongoing need for the Southern Estate.

Under EMI+, Commons catering facilities in the Palace would be refurbished on a zonal basis and would each be closed for several years. While these facilities are being refurbished there would be a reduction in Commons catering provision. The current catering facilities on the Northern Estate, including in Portcullis House, would remain available (except for the café in Richmond House) and new catering facilities would be available in Norman Shaw North. The only Commons catering facility within the Palace that would remain open throughout the entirety of the R&R works would be the Jubilee Café, which is accessible to the public and would be refurbished outside of standard operating hours.

These catering proposals are at a relatively early stage of development and the specifics will be subject to further consultation with Member bodies, including domestic committees.

The funding framework for the Restoration and Renewal (R&R) Programme is primarily set out in the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019 (“the Act”). The Act sets out how the R&R Programme is funded in both phase 1 and phase 2 of the Programme. The House Commissions set a limit for the overall expenditure for phase 1. Both Houses of Parliament must approve the funding limit for phase 2.

Under the Act, the R&R Delivery Authority receives its funding on an annual basis via a grant administered by the Corporate Officers of the House of Commons and House of Lords. This is laid as an Estimate in the House of Commons. Subject to parliamentary approval of this expenditure, the monies are provided by HM Treasury.

During development of the Estimate, the Delivery Authority’s proposed budget is initially subject to scrutiny by the R&R Client Team and House finance teams, R&R Delivery Authority Board, R&R Programme Board, and the R&R Client Board. Following this process the Estimates is submitted to the Parliamentary Works Estimates Commission (PWEC). This was established by the Act with a responsibility to review an Estimate for the Delivery Authority’s expenditure before the Estimate is laid. PWEC is required to consult HM Treasury as part of its review; to date, HM Treasury has concluded that the Estimates have been “taut and realistic”.

The National Audit Office (NAO) examines, certifies and reports on the Delivery Authority’s annual statement of accounts. The NAO has the ability to carry out value for money studies into the delivery of the Programme and has undertaken two reviews of the R&R Programme to date.

Some expenditure related to the R&R Programme is not borne by the Delivery Authority, such as the budgets for the R&R Client Team and the House of Lords R&R team as well as elements of spend by Strategic Estates (who, for example, lead on delivering Commons temporary accommodation on the Northern Estate). These budgets are contained within the wider House Administration Estimates and are formally scrutinised by the House Commissions, as advised by their respective finance committees, and are subject to parliamentary approval.