On 28 January 2021, the then Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick announced that the government would provide free entry, in perpetuity, to all visitors.

[4] "Giving universal free access to the memorial puts the UK on the same footing as the most important monuments and museums and will reassure Holocaust survivors their testimony will be freely available to all when they are no longer able to tell the story themselves, forever," Jenrick said.

The charity, which has a website,[9] was established to support the building and subsequent operation of the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre.

In 2016, the UKHMF undertook a search of over 50 locations and, in July 2016, it was announced that London's Victoria Tower Gardens had been chosen for both the memorial and underground learning centre.

It also contains a small children's playground and often holds temporary cultural events (for example, a light installation, spectra, by Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda, commemorated the centenary of the start of the First World War), and outdoor film screenings.

[17] As part of the planning process, Westminster council launched a public consultation regarding the memorial, with critical comments by UK and international organisations publicised in the British press.

Another aspect that was brought up by tree radar is that apart from roots, there may be a chance of striking unexploded munitions from World War II during the construction process, adding complexity to creating a memorial on this site.

[21] A grassroots campaign of local residents, "Save Victoria Tower Gardens", helped raise public awareness about the memorial's proposed site.

[26] An answer to a Parliamentary Question from 8 October 2019[27] showed that around £140,000 was spent by the government on private campaigning companies, in addition to its ongoing funding of the UKHMF.

[7] The design combines a memorial sculpture with an underground learning centre[29] that will help to educate visitors about prejudice and discrimination.

[30] The lead architect of the project, David Adjaye, sparked rebuke from opponents by arguing that "disrupting" the pleasure of being in a park is key to its thinking.

Barbara Weiss of the Save Victoria Tower Gardens campaign blamed the cost, delay and disruption of a redesign on an initial lack of consultation.

[36] A letter exchange between Westminster City Council and the UKHMF in August 2019 showed that the memorial "was heading towards an unfavourable recommendation" by planners.

[39] Following a request by UKHMF co-chairs Lord Pickles and Ed Balls, the Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick and Esther McVey, the then Minister for State for Housing, "called in" the application on 6 November 2019.

"[40] A spokesman for Westminster City Council subsequently said: "We've been clear to date that we would consider the scheme on its merits and in line with our planning policy."

[42] Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, the inquiry was held as a virtual event; main parties and participants were invited to join via Microsoft Teams or telephone, with documents available online.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told the BBC News Channel the memorial and learning centre would "educate and inform future generations about the horrors of the Holocaust" and that he hoped millions of people would visit it every year.

[47][48] The appeal was granted on two grounds, firstly on a technicality regarding procedure and secondly, because "Although the Inspector did consider the [Imperial War Museum] as an alternative location, the way that he has done so effectively places the burden on the objector to produce a 'detailed scheme', which would in practice be almost impossible to discharge."

Giving judgement, Mrs Justice Thornton said that those involved in the court case all "support the principle of a compelling memorial to the victims of the Holocaust and all those persecuted by the Nazis during those years when 'humanity was tipped into the abyss of evil and depravity'".

[54][55] On 28 June 2023, MPs unanimously supported the bill which then passed to its Select Committee stage for further scrutiny and consideration of petitions from objectors.

One petitioner against the bill, Dorian Gerhold, compared the government's behaviour in relation to the memorial to that of the Post Office with regard to its Horizon software problems.