Oral Answers to Questions Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateJohn Lamont
Main Page: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)Department Debates - View all John Lamont's debates with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
(6 days, 1 hour ago)
Commons ChamberSo far there have been about 150 interactions with MPs in this Parliament, including 85 with new Members elected in 2024. Information about the three restoration and renewal options are expected to be published later this year, allowing Members to decide on the preferred way forward. We want to help Members understand the proposals prior to this important decision point. As the programme moves into the next phase and we get closer to the start of the main works, we must ramp up these interactions so that Members are informed as best as possible.
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. The restoration and renewal programme is one of the UK’s biggest restoration projects. For example, it must deliver for small and medium-sized enterprises by creating apprenticeships, and skills and training opportunities all over the country. The original Act—the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019—stresses the need for the benefits of the works to be available across the UK. Over half of the delivery authority’s spend on supplies to date—for example, on surveys—has been to companies outside London and the south-east. The restoration and renewal client board is very clear that this programme must benefit the whole of the UK.
I am grateful for that answer. It is absolutely right that local contractors across the United Kingdom should be able to take part in this historic project. In my constituency we have businesses such as Hutton Stone, which provides a full stone masonry service and has some of the country’s finest stone carvers. Can we ensure that the process for bidding to take part in the restoration work is designed so as not to preclude contractors based further away from London, in order to maximise participation, and what else can we do to ensure that this process is used to upskill our workforce?
These works are already boosting our UK industries. The programme will create jobs and apprenticeships with better skills across the country, from engineering and high-tech design to traditional crafts such as carpentry and stone masonry. The hon. Member will be pleased to know that the restoration and renewal team have visited Inverness castle, the Glasgow School of Art, the Scottish Parliament and the Engine Shed in Stirling to promote these work across the country, and to bring forward and encourage the skills he mentioned in his question.