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<p>There are over one million visitors to Parliament each year. Visitors access the
estate for many reasons. These include: to meet with a Member or a member of staff;
to attend a Member-sponsored meeting 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. Many visits do not need to
be pre-booked. In order to promote open access to Parliament controls are kept proportionate
to the security risk. Photo identification by visitors is not currently deemed proportionate
and if introduced would need to be verified, significantly delaying the admission
of visitors to Parliament and resulting in lengthy queues at peak times.</p><p>All
non-passholders are subject to search and screening measures before entering the estate.
The Parliamentary Security Department do not comment publicly on the details of security
measures.</p><p>The Director of Security for Parliament is content to meet with any
members who wish to discuss specific concerns.</p>
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