Business of the House
Edward Leigh Excerpts(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)
May I ask the Leader of the House about the restoration and renewal of the Houses of Parliament, which is fast developing into a major scandal? According to some estimates, up to £800 million may already have been spent, with barely a brick being laid. We need an urgent decision. I served for many years on various bodies concerned with this programme, and the whole debate has been bedevilled by plans for 15-year decants that may never happen and the setting up of a delivery authority, instead of just getting on with the work around us. The Leader of the House may not agree with my particular view, but I am sure he agrees that we need to have a decision, there needs to be clear leadership, and we need to get on with the work.
Sir Alan Campbell
I absolutely agree with the Father of the House, and in taking this job I made it one of my priorities to see if we could move restoration and renewal forward. I am pleased to be able to tell him that there is a degree of consensus between the two commissions and the client board on these matters, and a report will be forthcoming early in the new year. It is important that we get that report right, rather than rush it, but it will set out what the future might look like and where decisions might lie. I hope that report will give Members the opportunity to consider these matters carefully, because it is important that we make progress, but whichever route we choose will not come without a considerable cost. I am absolutely clear that once that report is out there and Members have had a chance to digest it, it will be up to this House and the other place to have the final say on how we move forward on this, as I hope we will.
Business of the House
Edward Leigh Excerpts(1 year, 3 months ago)
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Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)
I have served for several years on the programme boards for restoration and renewal. The existential threat to this building is fire. I have raised on several occasions, as I know others have, the importance of installing a water mist system, installing more fire doors and making sure that they all shut. This is such an important issue. I do not demand an immediate answer, but will the Leader of the House try to persuade the authorities that rather than having endless debates on whether to decant, we need to protect this building with a water mist system? The modern systems are designed so that they will not even damage paintings, but they could save the building.
Lucy Powell
All I can say to the right hon. Gentleman is lucky him for sitting on the programme board for so long. In all seriousness, the safety of this building and of the people who work here is paramount for the House authorities, for me and for the Speaker—you and I discuss it regularly, Mr Speaker. The right hon. Gentleman is correct that we must address these issues. I hope that he will continue to offer his advice and thoughts through the programme board in the coming months; I am not sure whether his party will nominate him to do so, but I hope it will.