To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the sites considered for the National Holocaust
Memorial and Learning Centre meet the specifications in the paper by the UK National
Holocaust Memorial Foundation National Memorial and Learning Centre: Search for a
Central London Site, published in September 2015, in particular that the site should
provide (1) a place where people can pay their respects, contemplate, think and offer
prayer, (2) a lecture theatre and classrooms, (3) offices for holocaust educational
organisations, and (4) space for gatherings of up to 500 people for commemorative
events.
<p>The document, National Memorial and Learning Centre: Search for a Central London
Site, was published by the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation as part of extensive efforts
to identify a suitable location for the Memorial and Learning Centre, which also included
a thorough search of Central London by property experts CBRE.</p><p>More than 50 locations
were considered; detailed information supporting the assessment of each site is commercially
confidential. The Foundation identified Victoria Tower Gardens as the most fitting
site in terms of its historical, emotional and political significance and its ability
to offer the greatest potential impact and visibility for the project.</p><p>The Government
accepted the Foundation’s advice and the Prime Minister announced in January 2016
that Victoria Tower Gardens was the chosen location, Hansard 27 January 2016 col 259.
An international design competition was launched in September 2016, seeking proposals
for a Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens.</p><p> </p>
