Asked by: Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative - North Cotswolds)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the budget is for Strategic Estates in the next financial year.
Answered by Nick Smith
The Commission expects to consider the Administration’s Estimate for 2026/27 in February 2026, which will include the final budget for Strategic Estates.
In 2025/26 the Strategic Estates budget is £104m resource and £201.2m capital. This is a bicameral budget and House of Commons share is £79.3m resource and £171.6 capital.
Asked by: Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative - North Cotswolds)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the Restoration and Renewal Client Board, what the budget is for the restoration and renewal of the parliamentary estate in the next financial year.
Answered by Nick Smith
The funding for work related to Restoration and Renewal comes from several budgets.
The majority of R&R funding is provided through the R&R Delivery Authority’s Main Estimate which is subject to various stages of parliamentary scrutiny and approval. The funding approval process is partly set out in the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019. The House Commissions are required to set a limit on how much the Delivery Authority can spend in phase one of the programme (the phase before Parliament has approved the scheme and full funding for the works). The Parliamentary Works Estimates Commission is required under the Act to review the Estimate and consult HM Treasury and is responsible for laying the Estimate before the House of Commons. Prior to this, the Estimate is also scrutinised by the R&R Client Team and House finance teams, R&R Delivery Authority Board, R&R Programme Board and the R&R Client Board.
The budget for the R&R Delivery Authority for the next financial year (2026–27) is scheduled to be considered by the Client Board on 2 March 2026 as it progresses through the agreed governance approval stages.
The budgets for the R&R Client Team, Strategic Estates and the House of Lords R&R Team for the next financial year are contained within the wider House Administration Estimates and are formally scrutinised by the House Commissions, as advised by their respective finance committees. These budgets are also progressing through their approval stages.
In the current financial year (2025–26), the agreed budget for the R&R Delivery Authority is £53.2 million, £7.7m for the R&R Client Team, £0.4m for the House of Lords R&R Team, and £13m for Strategic Estates’ costs of developing the enhanced maintenance and improvement (EMI) option.