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1565201

registered interest
date	09/01/2023
answering body	House of Commons Commission
answering dept id	18
answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
hansard heading	Queen Elizabeth II: Death
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what was the total cost of Operation Marquee; from which sources that funding was obtained; whether any other scheme or programme budgets have been detrimentally affected by the cost of Operation Marquee; what assessment he has made of the scope and delivery of Operation Marquee; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	118859
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2023 answer text <p>The total cost of Operation Marquee for the House of Commons is still being determined. We will proactively publish this figure alongside details of the costs incurred.</p><p>The House of Commons finance and information compliance teams are working alongside the respective teams in the House of Lords to ensure aligned and complete publications of costs.</p><p>The cost of Operation Marquee has been funded from the House of Commons 2022–23 Estimate. The House has not required additional funding from HM Treasury to cover the cost of Operation Marquee.</p><p>Team budgets, including programme budgets, were not reduced in order to fund Operation Marquee. Costs incurred by Teams in relation to Operation Marquee were funded by requests from central contingency and managed by the finance team.</p><p>The feedback from Members and the public was that Operation Marquee was successfully delivered and the Commission recognises the crucial part played by the House service in that process.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 16/01/2023 16:08:43 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker previous answer version 46499 answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1546448

registered interest
date	29/11/2022
answering body	House of Commons Commission
answering dept id	18
answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
hansard heading	House of Commons: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment the Commission had made of the reliability of the House of Commons Polycom telephone system; what procedures are in place to ensure faults are rectified speedily; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	98675
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2022 answer text <p>Between August and December there have been four major incidents relating to the desk telephones provided in Members’ offices.</p><p>Work-arounds were deployed where possible; two incidents remain outstanding and are expected to be resolved in December 2022.</p><p>The response and resolution of these incidents was protracted due to the complexity of the underlying software and existing telephony infrastructure.</p><p>Earlier this year a Voice Programme was established to address the need for improvements to voice services for Members and Peers. This will be targeted to improve the user experience and reduce the risk of disruption to parliamentary services.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 12/12/2022 17:28:03 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1222498

registered interest
date	09/07/2020
answering body	House of Commons Commission
answering dept id	18
answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
hansard heading	Parliamentary Estate: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what recent assessment the Commission has made of the level of risk of covid-19 spreading through the Parliamentary estate in areas and rooms which are air conditioned; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	71667
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2020 answer text <p>The Parliamentary Maintenance Services Team (PMST) has developed a high-level management plan to identify and control risks relating to air conditioning systems.</p><p>Specific industry guidance on how to operate and use air conditioning systems to minimise the spread of covid-19 has been issued by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE). PMST has applied this guidance and also follow the UK Planned Preventive Maintenance Standard SFG20, which has a specific revision dealing with covid-19. This, in combination with PMST’s management arrangements constitutes a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk.</p><p>Regarding the operation of the systems, wherever buildings have mechanical ventilation PMST has switched air conditioning units to fresh air only, so there is no recirculation of air from the indoor environment – it is all discharged into the atmosphere outside. PMST is also modifying controls strategies to run plant at 100% 24/7 to ensure greater air exchanges.</p><p>There is no current evidence of ventilation systems transmitting covid-19 at present. The supply air ductwork brings filtered fresh air from outside the buildings into the environment and the extract ductwork discharges air to outside; therefore, there will be no risk to building occupants as no extracted air is recirculated.</p> answering member constituency Perth and North Perthshire answering member printed Pete Wishart question first answered 14/07/2020 19:51:52 answering member 1440 label Biography information for Pete Wishart
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1038459

registered interest
date	09/01/2019
answering body	House of Commons Commission
answering dept id	18
answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
hansard heading	House of Commons Annunciator System: Mobile Phones
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what plans he has to make the information displayed on the House of Commons Annunciator available to hon. Members and their staff via a smartphone app.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	206748
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/01/2019 answer text <p>The annunciator system was replaced with a new system on 14 December 2018. The replacement provides an improved platform from which to implement further service enhancements. In parallel in 2018 we prototyped some tools to explore how we might provide the annunciator plus additional extended information in a mobile app. A key learning was that to provide Members with a smartphone app with the timeliness and accuracy of the annunciator service required further feasibility work. Funding for this feasibility work is available in the new financial year and also for some user research with Members to confirm what other new features related to the Annunciator would be of most benefit. No explicit timing for this work has yet been defined but it is hoped to have completed the feasibility review by the autumn.</p> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 17/01/2019 19:50:30 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake previous answer version 95812 answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1038473

registered interest
date	09/01/2019
answering body	House of Commons Commission
answering dept id	18
answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
hansard heading	House of Commons Annunciator System
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, when the display and software for the House of Commons Annunciator was last updated; and what plans the Commission has to modernise that software.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	206749
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/01/2019 answer text <p>The annunciator system was replaced with a new system on 14 December 2018. This replacement implemented a new Annunciator graphics system that includes but was not limited to the following features:</p><ul><li>resilient hardware platform</li><li>software and hardware solution to generate high-definition Commons and Lords graphics</li><li>software application to support the creation of graphics templates</li><li>software application to maintain a local cache of selected data obtained from the Members’ Names Data Platform for inclusion in the graphics service</li><li>software application to support the provision of a live graphics service</li><li>separate systems for the Commons, Lords and Security teams that are connected using a video signal flow</li><li>software solution with the capability to support the development of additional functionality<p><p></li></ul><p /> <p>The Parliamentary Digital Service has some funding in the Digital Portfolio in the next financial year to extend the annunciator service based on the new software platform. This funding will be informed by some user research amongst Members to confirm what features would be of most benefit.</p><p /> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 17/01/2019 19:58:21 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake previous answer version 95813 answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1038476

registered interest
date	09/01/2019
answering body	House of Commons Commission
answering dept id	18
answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
hansard heading	House of Commons Annunciator System
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what plans he has to improve information displayed on the House of Commons Annunciator system such as expected debate scheduling times.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	206751
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/01/2019 answer text <p>There are currently no plans to add to the existing information currently displayed on the House of Commons Annunciator system whose capacity to carry more information is limited.</p> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 31/01/2019 11:28:56 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake previous answer version 95814 answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

905677

registered interest
date	16/05/2018
answering body	House of Commons Commission
answering dept id	18
answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
hansard heading	Parliamentary Estate: Security
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what estimate the Commission has made of the number of weekly non-passholders who are admitted to the Parliamentary estate without being accompanied or sponsored by a Member.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	144832
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2018 answer text <p>In April 2018, the average weekly number of visitors entering the Parliamentary estate from the three main visitor entrances (Cromwell Green Entrance, Portcullis House and Black Rod’s Garden Entrance) was approximately 17,000. This period comprised both sitting and recess dates. These figures are taken from readings on the security archways that visitors pass through as part of the search and screening process.</p><p>Visitors to Parliament access the estate for many reasons. It is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of the number of non-passholders who are admitted without being accompanied or sponsored by a Member.</p><p>Visitors access the estate to meet with a Member or a member of staff; to attend a Member-sponsored meeting (including APPGs) or meetings at official level; to give evidence to a Committee; to lobby; to attend debates in both Houses (in the Chambers and Committees); to attend functions and banqueting events; to take a tour (both paid-for and democratic free tours); or as part of an Education Service visit.</p><p>Some of the activities listed require sponsorship by a Member. Other visits will not be directly linked to a Member of either House; such as those attending House or committee proceedings, or attendees at organised functions.</p><p>All non-passholders are subject to search and screening measures before entering the estate and must visibly display their visitor pass throughout their time on the estate.</p><p>Controls are in place to allow visitors to access certain areas of the building without being escorted by a passholder, including Westminster Hall, St Stephen’s Hall, Central Lobby and certain refreshment facilities.</p> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 22/05/2018 13:33:52 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

905678

registered interest
date	16/05/2018
answering body	House of Commons Commission
answering dept id	18
answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
hansard heading	Parliamentary Estate: Access
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether the Commission has made an assessment of the adequacy of security in the Palace of Westminster as a result of the number of unaccompanied non-passholders accessing the Parliamentary estate in order to use refreshment facilities; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	144833
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2018 answer text <p>The House authorities, in conjunction with the police, assess all Parliamentary activity each week. This assessment is based on risk and considers all events, including banqueting, committees, meetings and other Parliamentary business. Security provision is based on risk and threat and comprises many different actions which we cannot disclose in full.</p><p>Unaccompanied non-passholders accessing the Parliamentary estate in order to use refreshment facilities are restricted to a limited number of areas. These areas, and routes to and from the entrances and exits to the estate, are carefully controlled by security and other House staff to minimise the risk of non-passholders accessing other parts of the estate. We encourage all Members and staff to challenge any unaccompanied non-passholders who are found in a restricted area and to alert security staff to their presence.</p><p>All non-passholders are subject to search and screening measures before entering the estate and may not bring onto the estate prohibited items. Further information about these measures can be found on the Parliamentary website: <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/visiting/access/security/" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/visiting/access/security/</a>.</p> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 22/05/2018 13:37:34 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

891455

registered interest
date	25/04/2018
answering body	House of Commons Commission
answering dept id	18
answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
hansard heading	Palace of Westminster: Mobile Phones
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the Commission is taking to improve cellular phone reception in the Palace of Westminster.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	137960
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/04/2018 answer text <p>The House Service is currently developing proposals with suppliers for making improvements to the mobile phone signal across the whole estate. This partly relies on the support of the mobile networks, and so far discussions have been held with one of the four mobile networks and Airwave.</p><p>Surveys of the estate have already been completed and a network supplier has started to design a system to improve the cover. Work will start shortly.</p> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 30/04/2018 12:49:30 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

753545

registered interest
date	18/07/2017
answering body	House of Commons Commission
answering dept id	18
answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
hansard heading	Members: ICT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps he is taking to improve the reliability and speed of the internet and the email system used by hon. Members and their staff; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	5732
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2017 answer text <p>The Digital Service is delivering a major investment programme for Parliament’s network. The programme will make improvements to Parliament’s ICT network, including internet access and email system. The delivery will address issues around speed, resilience and most importantly security when accessing internet based services. A tranche of improvements will be completed in September 2017, in particular:</p><p /><ul><li>Speed of access – Network design simplification, increase in throughput of security devices and increase of internet circuit bandwidth;</li><li>Resilience – dynamic routing with fast failover times with multiple routes out to the internet.</li></ul><p><br>The programme will provide further resilience and security enhancements for the network (Campus LAN) operating within the Parliamentary estate by the end of December 2017. The final tranche in the first half of 2018 will see performance and security enhancements for the WiFi network infrastructure within the estate. The Digital Service will continue to work to improve the security and protections in place around email, which in turn supports the reliability of email by reducing the impact that malicious email can have.</p><p>The improvements are primarily focused on the reliability and security of Parliament's network. However, the changes will provide Members with a more consistent user experience and speed of access when using the network, including access to the Internet. Responsiveness of Internet sites is also dependent upon factors outside of Parliament's network.</p> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 06/09/2017 16:38:51 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight