>> Sir Alan Haselhurt: Hello, I'm Sir Alan Haselhurst and I chair the House Of Commons
Administration Committee. This is an all-party Committee made up of 16 members and our job
is to advise the House of Commons Commission, which is our governing body, about all the
services which are provided for Parliament, for members and for their staff. In many way
the most important issue that we deal with in terms of sheer size and implications is
Catering. Then there is also Broadcasting with Retailing as another matter. And the
general management of Parliament and its facilities.
Catering is the subject which gains a lot of press attention. It's a big operation and
it's not just about 650 members of parliament. It's about 13,00 people approximately who
have access to the Parliamentary estate including, beyond members themselves, their staff, Parliamentary
staff and many other visitors who come on a fairly regular basis to Parliament. So we
do operate at a subsidy which is of uncomfortable size and which we are trying and succeeding
in reducing.
Another of our interesting concerns is Access. We want Parliament to be welcoming to visitors
and we are talking not just of those who are coming here in order to meet their member
of Parliament, or to watch proceeding of the house, or to give evidence to a select committee,
which is possible. But also to a general run of visitors who actually want to come and
see this iconic building and to marvel at what is inside it; its decorations and to
get the story of its history. We want to make that as pleasurable an experience as we possibly
can and add the opportunity to go away with souvenirs from our expanding range of gifts.
But it's more than that because we want to get school children in particular to come
here to the home of democratic as we see it. We have provide extra money so the Educations
Service is able to subsidise travel for the more distanced schools to come to Westminster.
We also have support for an Outreach Service which tries to take Parliament closer to the
people in the different regions of the United Kingdom. Also we want to make the proceedings
on a daily basis, more accessible, not only through general broadcasting but through the
newer forms of online access that are available.
In summary, we are facing a challenging but stimulating agenda. We want to try to ensure
the operations of Parliament, the fundamental process of Parliament are as efficient as
possible and at the same time we want it to be an attractive place for visitors to come
and to maximise success of this as a heritage site.
Now if you have any queries about anything I have said or haven't said. Please do get
in touch. It is possible through emailing our website at ac@parliament.co.uk. Pease
do, we will be very glad to hear from you. In the meantime thank you for viewing.