Security Force man the perimeter access points to the building; there are three main pedestrian access points and two vehicular ones. Vehicle checking is carried out on a random basis under normal states of alert.
The Palace of Westminster is not open to the public as such, although large numbers of the public come here for five purposes:
a) Sponsored by Members, to see, in parties of up to
16 persons, the policed Line of Route which is open in the mornings and other times in recess when the House is not sitting.
b)
c)
d)
e)
To meet their elected Member of Parliament either by appointment, or not, in Central Lobby; ie to exercise their democratic right.
To visit the Galleries or a Committee Meeting in public.
To attend Members' meetings.
To attend a social function by invitation of a Member of Parliament.
Any member of the public entering the Palace of Westminster passes through the Search Point and has their hand bags or brief cases checked by a member of the Security Force. We are about to introduce X-Ray equipment for this purpose. The Search Point contains two separate 'arches: separately they detect metal and explosives.
Once a member of the public is inside the building, having established at the entry point and certain inside check places the purpose of their visit, the Police do their best to channel them to wherever they should be going. This is not necessarily as easy as it sounds in the Palace of Westminster.
The security of the Chamber area is the responsibility of the Serjeant at Arms' Doorkeepers who are recruited from retired Warrant Officer grades of the armed forces and they ensure that only Members or Officers of the House are allowed into the Chamber itself or Division Lobbies when the House is sitting and control access to the public, special and press galleries upstairs. That said, there is obviously liaison with the Police over security matters in the Chamber area. For instance, the Chambers are 'swept' by police sniffer dogs with police handlers each day, 30 minutes before the sitting commences and the police take custody of anyone who has to be