Lawmakers remain deadlocked between two major refurbishment proposals, with estimated project lengths spanning several decades and costs reaching up to nearly £40bn. The cheaper alternative requires fully vacating the estate, which would relocate Members of Parliament to Richmond House and peers to the QEII conference centre. Meanwhile, urgent basic maintenance currently demands £1.5m a week—and will soon rise to £2m—to handle 24-hour fire patrols, crumbling masonry, and failing plumbing.
Key points
Lawmakers must resolve a prolonged deadlock between a £15.6bn full decant and a staged de…: Lawmakers must resolve a prolonged deadlock between a £15.6bn full decant and a staged decant costing roughly £39.2bn over up to 61 years.
The Public Accounts Committee recommended setting clear timetables and simplified governa…: The Public Accounts Committee recommended setting clear timetables and simplified governance to enable a final restoration decision by 2030.
Immediate safety-focused repairs continue across the parliamentary estate to mitigate per…: Immediate safety-focused repairs continue across the parliamentary estate to mitigate persistent threats like outdated electrics and leaking roofs.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
The Palace of Westminster will be at risk of a Notre Dame-style fire or a similar catastrophic event if MPs do not tackle the issue of funding refurbishments, a parliamentary committee has said.
Decisions about how and when to begin a full restoration of the building, which is Grade I-listed and a Unesco world heritage site, have been repeatedly delayed amid disagreement over how it should be done and spiralling costs.
The cost of maintaining the estate will soon hit £2m a week, and a recent estimate found the work could cost as much as £40bn and potentially last for six decades.
The cross-party Commons public accounts committee (PAC) said urgent action was needed to avoid the risk of a major fire or similar disaster, and to staunch increasing costs, with every year of inaction adding an estimated £420m to the restoration programme.
There has been a “political allergy” to making decisions, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the Conservative MP who chairs the PAC, said.
As well as the ever-increasing costs, he said, MPs should also “imagine the blow suffered by the…
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