A final decision on the renovation of the crumbling Palace of Westminster will not be made until mid-2019, a government minister has said. The update takes the immediate pressure off the government-owned QEII Centre in Westminster, which has been touted as an alternative temporary home for the House of Lords.
The Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom said, 24 October, the government would table a motion in both Houses of Parliament before the end of the year to review the various options for carrying out the work.
It is then likely to be 18 months before for a report to come back to parliament for a decision to be made.
A joint committee of MPs and peers has warned that the world heritage site faced a growing risk of a “catastrophic event” unless essential renovation works are carried out.
The committee recommended MPs and peers should move out while the repairs – estimated at £4bn – are carried out.
The House of Commons could decamp to the Department of Health’s current offices.
Leadsom admitted that the costs of the various alternatives had not been properly “bottomed out”, but promised “to pin down the best value for money for the taxpayer”.
The committee’s favoured option – and the cheapest – is a “full decant”, although a “partial decant” – with first one House and then the other moving out is also possible.
“What I am trying to do is to really get a grip on this and to facilitate a decision by Parliament,” Leadsom said.”
