New ID cards to be issued to 15,000 staff in Parliament

AROUND 15,000 parliamentary pass holders will get new identification cards after officials accepted the current system has loopholes.

The new passes will include a name and photograph on both sides – rather than just one, as now – to make them easier to read by guards.

Security officials are also considering a drive to lower the number of passes issued amid fears too many people can gain access to Parliament.

One insider said it was close to impossible to track the thousands of people who have permission to wander the estate unaccompanied. The crackdown comes after a stranger was able to flash a fake pass and spend 12 hours in Parliament before he was caught.

Every year, some 15,000 passes are issued by the parliamentary authorities, including replacements and renewals. Parliament sources said the total number of current pass-holders was similar.

The passes – which come with varying degrees of access – are held by everyone from politicians and their staff to journalists, cooks, cleaners and builders. Parliamentary sources said concerns have been repeatedly raised in private meetings, including how often they are worn and checked.

From this autumn, passes will be upgraded to include a “distinctive hologram” for authentication as well as becoming double-sided to avoid details being obscured.

Lord Fowler, the Lord Speaker, went public with his concerns about how the pass system works last month in a statement to peers.

He said: “Security passes identify those who have a legitimate reason to be on the parliamentary estate.

“A security review in 2004 recommended that security passes be worn at all times by everyone. Regrettably, there is still a small but significant number of Members and staff from both Houses who do not wear their passes while on the estate.”

In February 2016, an intruder spent 12 hours on the estate and eventually broke into Moncrieff ’s bar, only to be discovered the next morning drunk.

A Parliament security source said: “It was a Sunday. The guy walked up, produced an ID and basically walked in. Because it was a Sunday everything was closed down. Unfortunately it was a bad mistake to make. That was purely down to human error. It should have never happened.”