Westminster CCTV delay of ‘months’
MOVES to install CCTV for the first time in the Palace of Westminster’s internal corridors and Westminster Hall are being held up because of “heritage” concerns.
The Sunday Telegraph understands that the Commons and Lords Speakers have agreed to install security cameras in all areas of Parliament accessed by visitors, including the 900-year-old hall where Charles I was tried.
However, it has been delayed for months because of discussions about ensuring it will not be unsightly.
The disclosure comes after this newspaper reported last week how an official review following the Westmin- ster terror attack had identified a number of security flaws.
A secret “resilience test” showed that terrorists could break into Parliament in under five minutes and massacre more than 100 MPs.
Tomorrow, Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the Commons, Valerie Vaz, her Labour shadow, and Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons deputy speaker, are expected to write to MPs urging them to dial a security hotline if they see anything of concern.
A decision to extend CCTV coverage to internal areas of the Palace of Westminster was first taken just four months before the jihadist Khalid Masood entered the parliamentary estate through an open gate after run- ning over pedestrians on Westminster Bridge. But the attack, and initial false reports that an accomplice was on the loose on the estate, focused attention on the ability of security officials to track down potential intruders once they had managed to gain access.
While the use of CCTV cameras in more widespread in Parliament’s newer buildings, parliamentary au- thorities have restricted cameras in the Palace of Westminster largely to outside areas and private areas “considered vulnerable to intrusion”.
Widespread cameras in the Palace have been resisted for decades due to concerns about the privacy of MPs and that the devices would look unsightly.
However, parliamentary sources said the authorities decided to overhaul the policy towards the end of last year amid concerns that while there were “hundreds of CCTV cameras outside”, security officials were unable to track people using the devices once they entered the estate.
“The purpose was to allow security to, broadly speaking, work out where somebody has gone, so they can at least follow them down the corridor,” a senior source said.
One source said that there were ongoing “issues” with placing cameras in the hall, because “it’s such a protected space”.
Another confirmed that the delay was down to the “caution” of parliamentary authorities concerned that cameras in Westminster Hall and other parts of the Palace should be “in keeping with the building”.
The devices are expected to be installed in a matter of “months”.
A Commons spokesman declined to comment on the decision and subsequent discussions, saying: “We do not provide details of security arrangements on the Parliamentary estate”.