Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what assessment he has made of the specialist heritage and construction skills that are required for the restoration of the Palace of Westminster.

Regardless of the delivery option selected, the R&R Programme will entail significant heritage restoration and, due to the age of the Palace and its Grade 1 listed status, will require a variety of specialist heritage and construction skills to be involved with the restoration.

Over 100 organisations and businesses, including many heritage organisations, have attended 13 R&R supplier engagement roundtables held across every UK nation and region of England. Engagement with these heritage organisations has helped to generate a relevant understanding of, and a diverse insight into, the current and future challenges associated with the conservation, rehabilitation and development of heritage buildings.

The R&R Delivery Authority is looking closely into the skills needs across the UK and the significant skills shortages in some areas of the construction and heritage industries, in order to target initiatives at key trades and occupations designated as likely “pinchpoints”. In particular, the R&R Delivery Authority is developing an assessment of the labour skill requirements for the R&R Programme to provide an estimate on the type and number of specialist and heritage and construction skills required for the restoration of the Palace. The exact requirements will partly depend on the decisions taken by the Houses on the preferred way forward for R&R. The labour forecast assessment will help form skills planning and the skills interventions required to support the works on the Palace.