Question

To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the Restoration and Renewal Client Board, with reference to the projected programme durations and decant periods set out in the report, what assessment the Client Board has made of the risk that the 19–24 year Full Decant duration could extend beyond current projections; what modelling has been undertaken of the institutional impact of prolonged Chamber decant on parliamentary procedure and Member effectiveness; what assessment has been made of staff retention and operational efficiency during extended displacement; and what consideration has been given to the democratic and reputational costs associated with relocation over multiple Parliaments.

Chapter 4 of the recent report from the Restoration and Renewal (R&R) Client Board, Delivering restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster: the costed proposals (HC Paper 1576) provides information about the full decant option. This is one of two options which the R&R Client Board recommends for further development.

The 19 to 24 year duration for full decant reflects a P50–P80 range and therefore incorporates provision for schedule risks. The Commons Chamber would be decanted to Richmond House for 8 to 10 years under full decant.

Pages 50 to 52 of the Client Board’s report sets out some examples of how parliamentary business would look and feel different under full decant (during the course of the Programme, not in the end-state Palace). These impacts have been considered by both the Member-led R&R Client Board and the R&R Programme Board.

As referenced in the report, decant provision needs to be comparable—as a minimum—to the current provision. For the House of Commons, that means that not only will the Northern Estate need to be refurbished to ensure it is resilient and fit for purpose for increased use over the life of the R&R Programme, but a creative and purposeful approach will need to be taken to identify other opportunities for decant, given that the space available on the Northern Estate is not adequate to recreate many of the Commons’ existing facilities. This will need to be a priority focus of work before a final decision is taken on an R&R delivery approach by mid-2030.

Several Commons committees and the Commission have been engaged about the high-level proposals for temporary accommodation on the Northern Estate. Engagement with Members will continue as designs continue to develop.

A number of other parliaments internationally are undergoing or have completed restoration projects for their parliamentary buildings, for example Canada, Austria, Hungary and the Netherlands, and several of these have had to decant from Chambers for some period of time. The R&R Programme is learning about how these moves operated in practice and were managed as well as the various impacts, including on Members and staff.

Substantial staff decants have already been successfully managed by the House in recent years to a range of buildings with no loss of business service levels and good staff satisfaction, aided by appropriate business change support.