Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what steps he will take to ensure that there is an adequate pipeline of traditional craft and conservation skills in the workforce for the restoration of the Palace of Westminster.

The Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019 states that the Corporate Officers must have regard to the need to ensure that opportunities to secure economic or other benefits of the works are available in all areas of the UK. Those responsible for running the R&R Programme are committed to delivering benefits for small and medium enterprises all over the country, for example by creating apprenticeships and skills and training opportunities.

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 has formed a London heritage skills network comprising heritage organisations, further education providers, and training bodies, which will feed into a new national heritage skills network as supported by Historic England. The network aims to establish a ‘pipeline of work’ model to help the supply chain and training providers understand the future requirements and demand for traditional skills across different organisations and projects, including R&R.

The R&R Programme has also developed and launched a procurement system, in collaboration with Parliament’s heritage team, that enables conservation specialists across the nation to bid for contracts to work on heritage collection objects in the Palace.

To mitigate against the existing skills challenges, the R&R Delivery Authority understands the importance of targeting the recruitment of apprentices and trainees into roles where there are known skills shortages. The R&R Delivery Authority is currently exploring implementing a shared apprenticeship scheme across heritage client organisations. This scheme is intended to provide small and medium enterprises who may otherwise lack a breadth of work or planned projects the opportunity to engage in the upskilling of an apprentice without the need to commit to the full duration of the programme.