Holocaust Memorial Bill: Progress of the Bill

The Holocaust Memorial Bill 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 would remove restrictions on building a Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens next to Parliament. The bill would also give the government powers to use public funds to build and operate the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre.

The bill is a hybrid bill. The bill has passed the following stages:

• Second reading in the House of Commons, 28 June 2023.
• In January and February 2024, a select committee heard petitions against the bill. The committee decided to not amend the bill.
• The bill had its committee stage and third reading stages on 22 May 2024. The bill was not amended at either of these stages.
• On 22 May 2024 a carryover motion was agreed to allow the bill to be carried over to the next Parliament following the 2024 general election.
• The bill had its first reading in the House of Lords on 23 May 2024.
• Having been carried over, the bill was reintroduced in the House of Lords on 18 July 2024.
• Second reading in the House of Lords was on 4 September 2024.

No date has yet been set for its Lords committee stage.

The bill will only return to the House of Commons (during ping pong) if the House of Lords returns the bill with amendments.

Background: Holocaust Commission

The Holocaust Commission was launched in 2014 by David Cameron then Prime Minister, to assess whether measures were needed to preserve the memory of the Holocaust. In its 2015 report, the commission recommended the creation of a “striking and prominent new National Memorial” (PDF) which should be “co-located with a world-class Learning Centre”.

In January 2016, the government announced the memorial would be located in Victoria Tower Gardens, a grade II listed park next to the Houses of Parliament. It later decided to co-locate the learning centre with the memorial in September 2016.

Differing views on the location of the memorial

Although “the principle of a compelling memorial to the victims of the Holocaust and all those persecuted by the Nazis” has general support, there are differing views on whether the memorial and learning centre should be in Victoria Tower Gardens.

Those in favour of locating the memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens include the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education and the Board of Deputies of British Jews. They said this location in a “prime place of prominence” (PDF) has the “potential to transform how people understand and reflect on this history”.

Others, such as the London Historic Parks and Gardens Trust and the Thorney Island Society, a local amenity society, objected to locating the memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens. They have expressed concern about its impact on the gardens, a grade II listed park, as well as on other memorials in the gardens. They also said the project could affect public access to the park (PDF).

Planning consent and judicial challenge

In January 2019, the government submitted a planning application to build the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre to the local planning authority, Westminster City Council. In November 2019, the Housing Minister ‘called-in’ the planning application, meaning that they would decide on the application instead of Westminster City Council.

Following a public inquiry led by a planning inspector, in July 2021, the Housing and Planning Minister gave planning consent to build the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens (PDF). The inspector had found that the public benefits of the scheme, including its location next to Parliament, outweighed the potential harm it may cause to heritage assets.

The planning inspector also considered alternative sites, such as the Imperial War Museum in London, but noted that these sites lacked a detailed scheme.

Judicial challenge to planning permission

The London Historic Parks and Gardens Trust challenged the decision in the High Court on procedural grounds, and the minister’s decision to approve the planning application was quashed in April 2022.

The judge found that the London County Council (Improvements) Act 1900 required Victoria Tower Gardens to be “laid out and maintained… for use as a garden open to the public”. The 1900 Act was therefore an obstacle to the construction of the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in the gardens.

The bill

The Holocaust Memorial Bill would disapply sections 8(1) and 8(8) of the London County Council (Improvements) Act 1900, such that the 1900 Act would no longer pose an obstacle to building the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens. Planning consent would still be required.

The bill would also give the government powers to use public funds to build, operate and improve the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre.

A hybrid bill

The process by which a bill proceeds through Parliament differs depending on whether it is a public bill, a private bill or a hybrid bill. A hybrid bill is a bill that includes elements of a private bill. This usually means that it is introduced by the government but makes provision (in part) about or affecting the private interests of specific individuals or organisations, rather than only provision that is of a general character. 

The Holocaust Memorial Bill 2023-24, when first introduced, was designated as “prima facie hybrid” by the House of Commons Clerk of Legislation. It was referred to the Examiners of Petitions for Private Bills. The government sought to argue, unsuccessfully, that the bill was not hybrid.

The examiners disagreed with the government’s position on hybridity. They concluded that the bill would have a “much greater adverse effect on the private interests of local residents” (PDF) and was therefore a hybrid bill.

As a hybrid bill, the Holocaust Memorial Bill 2023-24 was referred to a select committee after second reading. The select committee considered petitions from those who believed they were directly and specially affected by the bill.

However, the House of Commons had passed an instruction which prevented the select committee from considering whether there should be a memorial and learning centre in Victoria Tower Gardens and issues related to planning permission. The select committee decided not to amend the bill (PDF), noting that the changes the petitioners sought would have strayed into the matters that it could not consider as a result of the instruction.

Next steps

As the planning decision was quashed by the High Court, the relevant minister in the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) would need to re-take their planning decision. Another application to Westminster City Council would not be required.

Any changes to legislation that were made since the planning decision was originally made, such as the Holocaust Memorial Bill, would be taken into account.

The previous government had said “strict” decision-making arrangements are in place in government to ensure a “functional separation” between those in the government who brought forward the planning application and those making a decision on it.