Modernisation Committee launches inquiry to make Parliament more accessible and easier to understand
20 March 2025
The House of Commons Modernisation Committee today calls for views on making Parliament more accessible and easier to understand.
Accessibility inquiry
Launching a new inquiry, MPs on the cross-party Committee will explore how the physical parliamentary estate could be made more accessible to those with disabilities, and whether changes to language could make it easier to understand how Parliament works.
The Committee will investigate whether current procedures pose a barrier to MPs with disabilities and what improvements could be made, ahead of a public evidence session with MPs with disabilities on 1 April.
The physical accessibility of Parliament and concerns around the difficulty in understanding language used to explain how Parliament works were key themes emerging from the Committee’s call for views last year.
The Committee is looking for views on what short-term adjustments could be made to the physical estate ahead of wider restoration projects, and for views on what changes to language and terminology could ensure members of the public can more easily understand what’s happening in Parliament.
Commenting on the new inquiry, Lucy Powell MP, Chair of the Modernisation Committee and Leader of the House of Commons, said:
“We’re setting out to close the gap between Parliament and the public, finding ways to make the work of the House of Commons simpler and easier to understand.
“We now have the highest number of MPs with disabilities ever elected to Parliament and we’re keen to hear their views on what needs to change. Some of their personal experiences may be difficult to hear, but change is essential if we’re to make Parliament work better for the people who put us here.
“It’s time for us to lead from the front and make the physical parliamentary estate, as well as the language and procedures used to explain what’s happening, as accessible as possible.”
MPs, members of the Parliamentary community, experts and interested stakeholders are invited to submit evidence to the Committee’s inquiry by 9 May.
The Committee’s work will not consider the Restoration and Renewal of Parliament, which is being considered elsewhere, but will explore what short to medium term changes and adjustments can be made to improve the accessibility of Parliament.
Terms of reference
The committee requests views on the following:
- What feasible adjustments (deliverable in the short to medium term ahead of Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster) to the current physical estate would make Parliament more accessible to MPs, staff and visitors with disabilities?
- How should the House of Commons collect and share information about the reasonable adjustments individual MPs require, to better support access to all services?
- What aspects of House of Commons procedure and practice pose a barrier to MPs with disabilities?
- What steps are already in place to address them and what more could be done?
- How can information about what is happening in the House of Commons and how the House of Commons works be communicated in a more accessible way to A) MPs and their staff; B) the public?
- What specific changes to parliamentary language, activity and behaviour would make it easier to understand what is happening in the House of Commons, and how the House of Commons works?
The deadline for submissions is 9 May.
Further information
The Modernisation Committee was established in the summer of 2024 and in September set out its key strategic aims of driving up standards, improving culture and working practices and reforming procedures to make the Commons more effective.
Image: House of Commons