HOUSE OF LORDS - United Kingdom Parliament

APPENDIX B
RULES FOR THE ADMISSION OF VISITORS
(a) Pursuant to SO 13 and as Agent of the Administration and Works
Committee, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod is responsible
for security in, and control of access to, the precincts of the House
as defined in (b) below in respect both of persons and of vehicles,
whether or not the House is sitting.
(b) For the purposes of the interpretation of SO 13 and these Rules,
the “precincts of the House” shall be understood to comprise all
that area of the Palace of Westminster control of which was
vested by the Queen in the Speaker of the House of Lords, with
effect from 26 April 1965, as well as all other areas under the
control of the House.
(c) Before admission to the galleries of the House visitors may be
required:
(i) to sign an undertaking to abstain from making interruption or
disturbance and to obey the rules of the maintenance of good
order in the galleries;
(ii) to deposit in the appropriate cloakroom all cameras, tape
recorders, electronic devices, binoculars, umbrellas and walking
sticks, parcels, packages, cases and bags other than ladies’
handbags; and
(iii) to open for inspection at the request of Black Rod, or of the
staff under his control, any parcel, package, case or bag, including
ladies’ handbags, which a visitor may bring into the precincts.
(d) In the galleries visitors are not permitted to smoke, read books or
papers other than the papers of the House, draw or write (except
in the south-west gallery), stand in or behind the galleries, or make
use of cameras, tape recorders, electronic devices, or binoculars.
Any offence against this rule may result in the confiscation by Black
Rod of any offending material.
(e) Where committees of the House are sitting in public, the rules
governing the admission of visitors to committee rooms are, so far
as practicable, the same as those for admission to the galleries of
the House. Members of the public are permitted to take notes
during committee meetings.
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