London:
Fancy holding your big fat Bollywood-style Indian wedding in the corridors of power of the House of Commons, or sipping tea in the historic Terrace Pavilion? This is not possible at the moment, but the Administration Committee of the House of Commons has recommended throwing open the ancient seat of power to tourists and raising revenue by hiring out historic spaces at commercial rates.
If Queen Elizabeth agrees to the committee's proposals, tourists could well be welcome inside the House of Commons on days when it is not in session for weddings, banquets and visits.
Committee chairman Alan Haselhurst said: "The House of Commons is more like a small town then a large organisation. Our catering service provides 7-8,000 meals a day. The catering provided for MPs and the thousands of staff and others who work in Parliament, and the thousands more who visit, needs to be provided as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible".
He added: "The proposals we have made today would see substantial cost savings, while opening up more of our facilities to staff and visitors."
The committee's recommendations include setting up souvenir shops, providing more access to journalists and their guests.
Hiring out space for weddings and banquets should be done at commercial rates, the committee has recommended. It said: "Our private sector witnesses unanimously argued that demand for such a prime location would be considerable.
Westminster Hall is, of course, a space shared with the House of Lords, and is part of a royal Palace, so considerable negotiation would be required for such a proposal to be put into effect".
The report added: "Once again, though, from the point of view of both revenue and wider public access to a national asset, we support in principle the idea of hiring out Westminster Hall on a limited number of occasions and for events in keeping with the historic character of the location".
If Queen Elizabeth agrees to the committee's proposals, tourists could well be welcome inside the House of Commons on days when it is not in session for weddings, banquets and visits.
Committee chairman Alan Haselhurst said: "The House of Commons is more like a small town then a large organisation. Our catering service provides 7-8,000 meals a day. The catering provided for MPs and the thousands of staff and others who work in Parliament, and the thousands more who visit, needs to be provided as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible".
He added: "The proposals we have made today would see substantial cost savings, while opening up more of our facilities to staff and visitors."
The committee's recommendations include setting up souvenir shops, providing more access to journalists and their guests.
Hiring out space for weddings and banquets should be done at commercial rates, the committee has recommended. It said: "Our private sector witnesses unanimously argued that demand for such a prime location would be considerable.
Westminster Hall is, of course, a space shared with the House of Lords, and is part of a royal Palace, so considerable negotiation would be required for such a proposal to be put into effect".
The report added: "Once again, though, from the point of view of both revenue and wider public access to a national asset, we support in principle the idea of hiring out Westminster Hall on a limited number of occasions and for events in keeping with the historic character of the location".
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