Question

To ask The Senior Deputy Speaker how much has been spent to date on Parliament’s Renewal and Restoration project since April 2020.

The total cost of the R&R Programme, from 2020-21 until the end of 2024-25, is £470m. This includes the costs of the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body and Restoration and Renewal Delivery Authority which were established in April and May 2020 respectively (including £5m of costs in April 2020 before the Delivery Authority was formally incorporated). It also includes the costs of Restoration and Renewal Client Team, which took over the sponsor function for the programme from the Sponsor Body in January 2023, and Strategic Estates’ costs of developing the enhanced maintenance and improvement option (one of the three R&R delivery options being developed). These costs cover all planning, procurement, design and preparatory survey works for the Programme in this period.

The total agreed budget for the current financial year (2025-26) is £74m, which includes the costs of the Delivery Authority, the R&R Client Team, the House of Lords R&R team and Strategic Estates’ costs of developing the enhanced maintenance and improvement option.

The Delivery Authority’s Main Estimate for 2026-27 is currently subject to parliamentary scrutiny and approval. As well as parliamentary approval being required for the initial budget provision, the Delivery Authority’s expenditure is subject to regular scrutiny and challenge throughout the financial year including by the R&R Client Team and House finance teams, Delivery Authority Board, R&R Programme Board, R&R Client Board and Parliamentary Works Estimates Commission.

The Delivery Authority’s funding is based on what is required to deliver the key activities tasked to it by the R&R Client Team. The Delivery Authority seeks to ensure that its expenditure remains taut and proportionate for the activities required to deliver the Programme and constantly re-assesses its resources, scaling up or down as appropriate. Under legislation which set up the framework of the R&R Programme, HM Treasury is required to be consulted on the Delivery Authority’s Estimates; to date, HM Treasury has concluded that the Estimates have been “taut and realistic”. The R&R Programme routinely publishes information on costs, for instance in quarterly reports, annual reports, and memoranda provided to the Parliamentary Works Estimates Commission.