UK Inquiry Tracker

Restoration and renewal of Parliament

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 26 Jan 2022 Closed: 2 Sep 2022 Parliament page

Over a year ago the Committee reported that every week of delayed repairs to crumbling Parliament was costing the taxpayer another £2 million . The Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Programme, widely endorsed as a necessity to preserve a historically and politically significant building, is at a critical stage: … Read more

11 Recommendations

29 Conclusions

1 Report

2 Oral sessions

4 Letters

2 Events

Activity timeline 8 events

2 Sep
2022

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Tenth report from Session 2022-23

6 Jul
2022

Correspondence

Correspondence from the House of Commons, House of Lords, Restoration & Renewal Sponsor Body and Delivery Authority to the Committee of Pub…

29 Jun
2022

Report published

Tenth Report - Restoration and Renewal of Parliament

24 May
2022

Correspondence

Joint Correspondence from Simon Burton, Clerk of the Parliaments, House of Lords and Dr John Benger, Clerk of the House, House of Commons, …

11 May
2022

Oral evidence

Restoration and renewal of Parliament recall; DfE recall

25 Apr
2022

Correspondence

Public Accounts Committee—follow-up update on the Restoration and Renewal Programme, March 2022

30 Mar
2022

Correspondence

Correspondence from Dr John Benger, Clerk of the House of Commons Palace of Westminster, re Further information following the oral evidence…

14 Mar
2022

Oral evidence

Restoration and renewal of Parliament

Oral evidence sessions 2 sessions

11 May 2022

View on parliament.uk

Restoration and renewal of Parliament recall; DfE recall

David Goldstone CBE · Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Delivery Authority Dr John Benger · House of Commons Indra Morris · Children’s Services, Communications & Strategy Group Sarah Johnson · Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Sponsor Body Simon Burton · House of Lords Stephanie Brivio · Department for Education Susan Acland-Hood · The Department for Education

14 Mar 2022

View on parliament.uk

Restoration and renewal of Parliament

David Goldstone · HM Treasury Dr John Benger · House of Commons Sarah Johnson · Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Sponsor Body Simon Burton · House of Lords

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Tenth Report - Restoration and Renewal of Parliament	HC 49	29 Jun 2022	40	Response document linked

Recommendations & Conclusions

40 results

2 Recommendation

Tenth Report - Restoration and Ren…

The House of Commons Commission proposed to dissolve the Sponsor Body without considering why governance...

The House of Commons Commission proposed to dissolve the Sponsor Body without considering why governance arrangements did not work and potential alternatives, including whether the House administrations can satisfactorily oversee work. Following a discussion of the indicative cost and schedule … Read more The House of Commons Commission proposed to dissolve the Sponsor Body without considering why governance arrangements did not work and potential alternatives, including whether the House administrations can satisfactorily oversee work. Following a discussion of the indicative cost and schedule estimates and a continued presence assessment, the Commission proposed that the sponsor function should transfer to a “new, separate department serving both Houses”. This Department will in effect become the client sponsor for the entire project. The CEO of the Sponsor Body does not know why the Commission proposed dissolving the Sponsor Body. There is no evidence alternative options were considered. It is unclear whether the House administrations have the capacity and skills to sponsor the works. Their poor management contributed to the Elizabeth Tower refurbishment cost almost tripling from £29 million and their response to the recent asbestos incident was not managed to the standard we expect. There is no 6 Restoration and Renewal of Parliament evidence that the Clerk of the House and the Clerk of the Parliaments have either the expertise or the capacity to successfully oversee a large infrastructure project of this cost and complexity. In June 2022, an independent review panel, convened by the Commissions, recommended other governance options be considered for the programme delivery phase, although bringing the sponsor function in-house “should be viewed as a practical measure” in the short-term. It also recommended any new client or sponsorship function should retain the necessary capability and capacity alongside a distinct identity. It should have a dedicated leader appointed as Senior Responsible Owner reporting to the Clerks of both Houses as Accounting Officers. Recommendation: Given the lack of time to consider the viability of options, Parliament should consider appropriate governance arrangements for the delivery phase and ensure they have evidence to support deci Show less

HM Treasury

Restoration and renewal of Parliament

Activity timeline 8 events

Oral evidence sessions 2 sessions

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Recommendations & Conclusions

The House of Commons Commission proposed to dissolve the Sponsor Body without considering why governance...

Critical value for money risks, which we have previously highlighted, have still not been addressed.

The Commissions have asked for further options to be explored but is unclear how the...

To date, there has been a failure of transparency and accountability over work to restore...

The Parliamentary Accounting Officers have not made clear whether the House authorities can deliver the...

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...

The Clerk of the House told us that every year the restoration and renewal of...

Since the start of 2016, there have been 25 fire incidents within the Palace and...

In May 2022, the Clerk of the House of Commons told us that this period...

In March 2022, the Delivery Authority had already lost some newly recruited staff and access...

We questioned the Clerk of the House of Commons on the timeframes and Parliamentary processes...

The Commissions intend to put indicative resolutions based on this report to Members and Peers...

The Sponsor Body told us it has not estimated the costs associated with dissolving itself,...

In February 2022, the House of Commons Commission proposed that the sponsor function should transfer...

On 14 June 2022, the Commissions published the areas where they sought the Houses agreement.

The Clerk of the House of Commons explained that the technical capacity needed to take...

In terms of the Clerks’ role, Members of both Houses value their expertise in terms...

We questioned the Clerk of the House of Commons on the House administration’s performance managing...

We also questioned the House administrations’ protocols on how they to responded to safety incidents...

The Clerk of the House of Commons explained the House administrations stood down all works...

The incident was formally reported to the Health and Safety Executive on 10 February 2022,...

In proposing to replace the Sponsor Body, the Commission did not set out what options...

In June 2022, the independent review panel recommended that bringing the sponsor function in-house should...

The Clerk of the House told us that he expected the Infrastructure and Projects Authority...

When we reported on this Programme in October 2020, we found the Sponsor Body had...

The Clerk of the House of Commons recognised the challenge of the Programme’s clients—including Members...

On 18 March, the Commissions issued a joint statement setting out nine parameters to guide...

In our October 2020 report, we noted that success for the Programme depended on factors...

When we last examined the Programme, the House of Commons planned to decant to Richmond...

Until February 2022, the Sponsor Body was preparing a business case based on Parliament fully...

The Sponsor Body returned to the Commissions with its initial analysis on the impact of...

In March 2022, the Delivery Authority explained to us that initial analysis showed that, although...

The Delivery Authority has now been tasked with developing new options for undertaking the work...

In our May evidence session we asked the Delivery Authority whether, given its earlier analysis...

Through our work we often see a lack of openness and transparency about programme progress,...

For government major programmes, Accounting Officers are expected to assess the delivery risks, publishing a...

Furthermore, the Commission has not yet set out its reason for suggesting the abolition of...

To work quickly, Parliament and the Sponsor Body agreed that parliamentary domestic committees, such as...

We reiterated that significant developments with the Programme should be fully in the public domain...

Following the House administrations being three months late sharing information about a recent asbestos incident,...

Correspondence 4 letters