At some point, you will be asked to book a room on behalf of your Member. This might be for an APPG meeting, a reception or another event.
Details can be found on the ParliNet page Book a Meeting Room
1. House of Commons Committee Room information
Committee Rooms in the House of Commons and Portcullis House come in two different styles: Select Committee Rooms, which have a horseshoe shaped table; and Standing Committee Rooms, which have a debating chamber style. The layouts of these rooms are fixed.
Committee rooms may only booked in the name of a Committee of the House, Member of Parliament or Staff of the House of Commons who are Full Pass Holders. They can be booked for a maximum of two hours for private meetings. Should any of the rooms be required for longer periods, you will need to find another MP to sponsor the remainder of the time.
Please be as descriptive as possible when putting the title of your meeting – don’t just put ‘meeting’ or ‘briefing.’ It helps the Room Bookings Team to know what the meeting is, so they can offer the correct support to the organisers.
Members should be aware that any meetings booked in these rooms are subject to change or cancellation as Committees of the House have absolute priority in these rooms. Members will be notified of any change after the weekly Committee Room shuffle which takes place on the preceding Thursday.
The Member who has booked the room is responsible for the use made of it, and they or another Member must attend personally throughout the meeting. All bookings made must be in connection with a Parliamentary subject (as defined in the Committee Rooms leaflet).
If your event is cancelled, please let the Room Bookings Team know as soon as possible so that they can free up the room for someone else.
You can see more information about Committee Rooms, including their capacity and the rules on ParliNet.
Presentation Equipment:
Projectors and so on may be booked when booking the Committee Room. Please note that at least 48 Hours notice is required.
Refreshments:
No unauthorised refreshments may be consumed in Committee Rooms.
Photography/Filming for private functions: (Committee sessions have different arrangements)
If the chairperson and the other Members present are content, photography is permitted at any meeting in a committee room. Filming is also OK as long as the members and chairperson are content, the material is for internal use only, the film crew brings in its own hand-held equipment and a permit has been issued by the Events Team. In the case of informal meetings of committees of the House, footage may be made publicly available at the chairman’s discretion. For all other meetings, footage may not be made publicly available.
2. Locations
Committee Rooms 5 to 16 are located on the Committee Corridor, Rooms 17 to 21 are on the Upper Committee Corridor and the Grand Committee Room is just off of the North West corner of Westminster Hall, all in the Palace of Westminster. The Jubilee Room is also in Westminster Hall. The Boothroyd, Grimond, Thatcher and Wilson Rooms are on the first floor of Portcullis House.
W Rooms – just off of Westminster Hall
Room H – lower ground floor, Palace of Westminster
Conference Rooms A, B and C – ground floor, 1 Parliament Street
Conference Room D – 5th floor, 1 Parliament Street
Conference Room E – Ground Floor, 7 Millbank
Meeting Rooms M, N, O and Interview Room 2 – 1st Floor, South East corner of Portcullis House
Meeting Rooms P, Q, R, S and T – 1st Floor, South West corner of Portcullis House
NSN Interview Room Ground Floor – Norman Shaw North
Interview Room 1 and Room U – North East corner of Portcullis House
If you need a map, click here.
3. Public Access
Please do not use ticketing websites such as EventBrite for your events. Their tickets and QR codes are not recognised by Parliamentary Security, and it is too easy for documentation to be copied, which could lead to overcrowding.
Members of the public should enter via the Cromwell Green entrance for meetings within the House of Commons or via Victoria Embankment for Portcullis House. If you’ve invited attendees to a meeting, make sure they know to allow enough time to clear security. Long queues can build up at busy times, especially at the Cromwell Green entrance.
Applications for disabled parking should be made via the Serjeant at Arms Office (ext. 3030). Access is via Carriage Gates. A full pass holder from the Member’s office should meet and escort the visitor to the meeting. A limited number of wheelchairs are available via the service centre (Ext. 4226). The closest public car park is the Abingdon Green underground car park which also has spaces for bicycles. It is located opposite the House of Lords.
4. Important Contacts
See the intranet page on Booking meeting rooms across the Parliamentary Estate
The main telephone extension for Committee and meeting room bookings is 3090. This is now also the number for enquiries about filming and photography permits. Both are now dealt with by an Events Team who can also be contacted by email on hoceventsteam@parliament.uk.
You can also make bookings for meeting rooms through the attendants at reception desks across the Estate.
If you would like any advice or have any queries relating to these services please contact either the extension given above or send an email to accommodationservices@parliament.uk. The team will be happy to help you with your query.