Committees

Modernisation Committee to hear from MPs with disabilities on experiences in Parliament

28 March 2025

On Tuesday 1st April 2025, the Modernisation Committee will conduct a public evidence session which will hear from MPs with disabilities.

This is the first public evidence session of the Modernisation Committee’s inquiry into access to the House of Commons and its procedures.  

The cross-party committee will hear from four current MPs, and from a former MP who has experience of being both a Minister and Select Committee Chair: 

  • Sarah Bool MP
  • Marsha de Cordova MP
  • Steve Darling MP 
  • Robert Halfon
  • Dr Marie Tidball MP 

The session will take place at 2.45pm. Find out more about the evidence session. 

The session will also be available to watch on Parliament Live. Subtitles and BSL will be available. 

Physical accessibility of Parliament was one of the key themes emerging from the Committee’s call for views last year.   

The Committee’s inquiry is looking for views on what short-term adjustments could be made to the physical estate ahead of wider restoration projects. The Committee’s work in this area 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. 

MPs, members of the Parliamentary community, experts and interested stakeholders are invited to submit evidence to the Committee’s inquiry by 9 May 2025. 

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.  

Submissions can be made on the Committee’s website. 

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