Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 15th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

7. What assessment the Commission has made of whether the New Palace Yard project will be completed within its budget.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)]

The New Palace Yard project will be completed this month, at an expected cost of £62 million, within the latest approved business case. The project included important security works and significant ground and heritage works.

[John Lamont]

Frankly, a cost of £62 million for the New Palace Yard project is eye-watering. Most of our constituents will find that outrageous, particularly given that it is not fit for purpose—staff are having to queue for long times when leaving Parliament at the end of the day. What was the original budget for the project, who approved it and who designed it? Does the hon. Member think that there has been sufficient political oversight of that project and similar work in Parliament?

[Nick Smith]

There have been different estimates for the stages of the project, as the hon. Gentleman rightly points out. The costs have evolved since 2017. I will send him the recent Finance Committee report, which was published just before Christmas and goes into detail on this matter. Delays have occurred, particularly at peak times, and it has taken too long for vehicles to leave, but steps are being taken to speed up exit times.

The hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent, representing the Restoration and Renewal Client Board, was asked—

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)]

The restoration and renewal programme has engaged extensively with Members of both Houses. In this Parliament, there have been 380 interactions with MPs and peers through briefings, tours and events. The number of interactions over the past three years, since January 2023, is about 980. The client board will shortly publish a report to help us all decide on the preferred way forward.

[Josh Dean]

I thank my hon. Friend for his answer and for the board’s engagement with parliamentary colleagues. A full decant from Parliament is among the options for colleagues to consider as we restore this place—it is an option that I support—but will he set out what engagement the board has had on any plans to ensure that, if we do decant, Parliament remains in London to ensure that the jobs of the hundreds of people who keep this place running, including our catering and cleaning staff, are protected?

[Nick Smith]

After ramping up engagement on the cost information, and once the House has provided direction on the R and R programme, if we do go to full decant, the Lords will likely go to the Queen Elizabeth II centre and MPs to the northern estate. There will be ongoing work on temporary accommodation, and the related impact on jobs is for us all to consider in future.

The hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, was asked—

[Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

9. What steps the Commission is taking to increase the proportion of House of Commons purchasing from British manufacturers.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)]

My hon. Friend always takes an interest in ceramics and parliamentary procurement. He will remember that approximately 85% of ceramic items purchased in our gift shops are either fully or partially made in the UK. More widely, Parliament endeavours to purchase British goods, in compliance with the procurement legislation. If he would like further information, I would be very happy to help him.

[Gareth Snell]

I thank my hon. Friend for his continued engagement with me on this important matter. The ceramic commemorative tankard on sale in the gift shop over Christmas was marked up as being decorated in Stoke-on-Trent, but what that means is that it was formed and fired overseas, imported into the UK, decorated and then sold. Under the rules of the House, that would be considered a British product, because it is based on where the last substantial transformation took place. May I encourage my hon. Friend to take back to the Commission the view that when we are buying things in this place and we want to label them as British—whether it be the food, the plates, the cutlery or any products we use here—they must be British from start to finish, so that we can showcase the best of British talent?

[Nick Smith]

My hon. Friend is a doughty campaigner for ceramics and Stoke. The limited edition House of Commons Christmas mugs are a popular product in our gift shop. Those products are sourced as unfinished products from overseas and then hand-finished in the UK. This approach ensures that the product is commercially viable to purchase and that the retail team can sell it while maintaining high standards, but I would be happy to meet him again to discuss this further.

The hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, was asked—