THE Scottish Parliament has confirmed plans to build a new £6.5 million high security entrance hall.
The facility – dubbed "Fortress Holyrood" – will house the airport-style scanners which visitors must pass through as they enter.
The new building was agreed after a security report warned the scanners were too close to the debating chamber and an attack there would put MSPs and other visitors in danger. Construction will begin in October 2012, with the new facility due to be operational by summer 2013.
The cost will be met from within the Parliament's existing budgets, by postponing other projects and spreading the cost across two financial years.
In a letter to MSPs, Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick said: "It is incumbent upon us to take the right decision on behalf of those whose safety is our responsibility. This is not a decision the SPCB has taken lightly."
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