Consultants pocket £1000 for a pair of Holyrood signs

SCOTTISH Parliament bosses paid consultants more than £1000 to advise them to put up two signs urging people to give wheelchair users priority in a lift.

Consultants were called in to examine disabled access in the Holyrood building after MSPs said there had been problems for people in wheelchairs getting from the building's public area to events in the garden lobby, which is up a short flight of steps.

MSPs today condemned the exercise as a waste of money, saying anyone could have suggested the signs.

Edinburgh-based consultants People Friendly Design rejected the idea of putting in a stair lift because it would only carry one wheelchair at a time while an existing passenger lift nearby can accommodate three wheelchairs.

Some disabled people also find such lifts demeaning.

The "garden foyer access review" did recommend "managing" lift demand, reminding visitors they could leave the garden lobby via the Canongate entrance - where there are no steps - and installing the new signs.

The report said: "Signage should be provided in the lift lobbies and within the lift car to remind staff, MSPs and others who work in the building of when organised visitor tours are taking place and the importance of this lift to disabled event attendees and visitors."

The cross-party Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) accepted the recommendations, but vetoed another idea from consultants, that in "exceptional circumstances" visitors to events in the garden lobby could enter through the Canongate entrance, normally reserved for pass- holders only.

Officials said they considered the proposal, but the security office believed that as there were no screening facilities, such access would be "high risk" and go against the reasoning behind the extra security measures, like the recently-installed expensive turnstiles. The parliament said the consultancy work had cost 1145.63.

Independent Lothians MSP Margo MacDonald said: "There are a number of MSPs with difficulties who could probably have given them the advice they needed for the price of a cup of coffee."

Another MSP, who asked not to be named, said: "It's a complete waste of money. I could have told them to put up these signs."

A parliament spokesman said: "The review of the garden lobby and main hall areas was conducted with the aim of improving the experiences of a wide range of disabled people, including wheelchair users, when using and visiting the parliament."