Paul Martin to step down as Parliamentary Security Director
19 January 2016 (updated on 19 January 2016)
Paul Martin has decided to step down as Parliamentary Security Director in September after three and a half years, completing a review and restructure of the Parliamentary Security Department. From Friday 29 January 2016 responsibility for parliamentary security will transfer to the Parliamentary Security Department.
The new department will assume responsibility for all aspects of security management and the oversight of security operations for both Houses of Parliament. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) will continue to provide armed and unarmed policing and MPS civilian security officers will transfer to Parliament from 1 April 2016.
These changes result from a review of parliamentary security begun in 2013 and decisions made by the House of Commons Commission and the Lords Committee in November 2014.
Paul Martin has decided to step down as Parliamentary Security Director in the autumn, after three and a half years, to pursue other interests. This will be seven months after the end of his three-year term of appointment, which comes to an end in February 2016, and gives the Houses of Parliament eight months’ notice. Paul will continue to lead the department for the next eight months and oversee the transition of security arrangements until his successor has been appointed.
Rt Hon. John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons, said:
“In his three and a half years in Parliament, Security Director Paul Martin has had a transformative impact on our institution. We will miss his input and leadership in so many ways. In his knowledge of the security environment, his ability to plan effectively, his inter-personal skills and his dependability as a senior team player, Paul’s performance has been of the first rank.”
The Lord Speaker, Baroness D’Souza, said:
“In his three and a half years as the Security Director Paul Martin has transformed the protection of the parliamentary estate with skill, strategic vision and understanding of the role of Westminster as the ‘peoples’ parliament’. I am sad that he is leaving and wish him every possible success in future ventures."