Question

To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the Restoration and Renewal Client Board, with reference to the overall Programme scope set out in Chapter 2, what criteria were used to distinguish between essential works necessary to prevent catastrophic failure and additional enhancement projects intended to improve visitor experience and public engagement; whether a reduced core safety and resilience only scope was fully costed; and what the estimated difference in capital expenditure would be between such a reduced scope and the level 4 reasonably ambitious scope.

Section 2(5) of the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019, which established the framework for the Restoration and Renewal (R&R) Programme, requires the Programme to have regard to (amongst other things) the need to ensure the Parliamentary building works represent good value for money, the need for improved visitor access to the Palace of Westminster after completion of the works, and the need to ensure that educational and other facilities are provided for people visiting the Palace after completion of the works. The Act did not specify whether any of these areas should be prioritised over others.

In 2022 the Houses agreed four priority areas for the R&R Programme—fire safety and protection, building services, asbestos, and building fabric conservation. 84% of the Palace construction costs for the full decant option and 86% of the Palace construction costs for the enhanced maintenance and improvement plus (EMI+) option relate to these priority works.

In 2024 the R&R Client Board considered the scope of the R&R Programme: that is, the improvements and benefits to be achieved in the end-state Palace, to which both Houses of Parliament will return. Having considered various scope levels, the Client Board decided against the most "transformational" scope but selected a scope which it agreed would deliver improvements while maintaining value-for-money.

No other scope options have been fully costed to the maturity presented in the R&R Client Board’s report. The R&R Programme Board considered cost estimates for all scope options in 2023 as part of the work for the R&R Strategic Case. Following the R&R Client Board’s publication of the R&R Strategic Case in 2024 (HC Paper 621), designs were progressed to align with the selected scope and provide fully costed proposals. The costs as set out in the R&R Client Board’s recent report, Delivering restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster: the costed proposals (HC Paper 1576), will not be comparable with those considered in 2023 because they have been developed in more detail and take into account the four different delivery methods.