Parliament repairs could take 76 years and cost £22bn

KEEPING MPS at Westminster while Parliament is refurbished would mean the works could take up to 76 years, an official report has found.

An initial assessment of how much work would be required to save the Palace of Westminster, which is in urgent need of repair works and safety alterations, found that the slower pace needed to allow the Commons Chamber to continue operating could mean more than 15 general elections pass by before the works are completed. The cheapest option would involve a “full decant” of the palace for between 12 and 20 years, with the work costing in the region of £7 billion to £13 billion.

In this scenario, with MPS elsewhere for much of the time, the report estimated the restoration would take between 19 and 28 years.

But if MPS were to maintain a “continued presence” in the palace, where “all essential and highly desirable functions could be accommodated but in more condensed space”, the work would cost more and take longer, the report by the restoration and renewal sponsor body said. In one scenario, business would remain within the Commons Chamber “until such a point is reached whereby all operations are transferred to another space within the Palace of Westminster (assumed to be the House of Lords Chamber), to allow the rest of the work to proceed”, the report said.

It estimated this would increase restoration costs to between £9.5billion and £18.5billion, taking 26 to 43 years.

And in a third possible scenario – which would cost the most and take the longest – business would remain within the Chamber “throughout the entirety of the restoration and renewal programme of works”, with “no transfer”. It is estimated this would cost between £11billion and £22billion and take in the region of 46 to 76 years.

The report was ordered by the House of Commons Commission, which is responsible for the maintenance of the Palace of Westminster and the rest of the parliamentary estate. But in a recent meeting of the Commission, MPS and officials decided to abolish the restoration and renewal sponsor body that produced the report after deciding its conclusions were unrealistic.

It is understood that senior Commons officials feel that even the lowestcost option is unlikely to gain the approval of MPS, who have previously been told the restoration works will cost around £4billion.

The next steps for the works are now unclear, with MPS and officials set to meet to discuss how to proceed.

Garry Graham, the deputy general secretary of the Prospect union which represents workers in Parliament, said a full decant of MPS while the works take place is the “only credible plan”.

But the idea is controversial among MPS, who say the operation of the iconic Commons Chamber should continue regardless of the cost.