Committees

Modernisation Committee hears from academics as accessibility inquiry continues

16 June 2025

The Modernisation Committee will hear from academics specialising in the accessibility of Parliament and politics on Tuesday 17th June. 

Tuesday’s session will hear from: 

  • Dr Ekaterina Kolpinskaya – University of Exeter (Cornwall) 
  • Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira – University of Leeds 
  • Professor Elizabeth Evans – University of Southampton 

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 practice and procedure could make it easier to understand and engage with Parliament. 

The session will take place at 11:40. Further details will be available on the Committees website.

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

This is the fifth public evidence session of the Modernisation Committee’s inquiry into access to the House of Commons and its procedures. The Committee has also heard publicly from disabled MPs, members of the Parliamentary community, members of the House of Lords, and the Hansard Society.  

Accessibility of the House of Commons and its procedures were key themes emerging from the Committee’s call for views last year.  

The Committee’s inquiry has been exploring 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 have been invited to submit evidence to the Committee’s inquiry. 

Terms of reference 

The committee requested views on the following: 

  1. 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? 
  2. How should the House of Commons collect and share information about the reasonable adjustments individual MPs require, to better support access to all services? 
  3. What aspects of House of Commons procedure and practice pose a barrier to MPs with disabilities?  
  4. What steps are already in place to address them and what more could be done?  
  5. 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? 
  6. 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? 

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