UK lawmakers have rung the bell on need to carry out urgent repairs of Westminster Palace, which houses the British Parliament. In a report, the parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has said that “years of procrastination and debate” has meant that it was difficult to have confidence that the required repairs will be carried out. The committee said that the focus so far has been on Members of Parliament and not so much on thousands of staff and visitors who use the building.
UK Parliament itself has mentioned the report on its official website in a news article.
The report said that committee found it to be ‘incredible’ that no one has specified how the restored palace would look like even after the House determined a course of action. Further delays would be ‘hugely costly to the taxpayer’.
Just ‘patching up’
According to the report, the parliament is spending up to 2 million pounds a week ‘patching up the palace’ but there was a long and growing list of health and safety incidents ‘including some involving asbestos’.
The committee has demanded “a clear indication of the cost and timeline for getting this massive job done before it becomes too late to do so.”
The Westminster Palace is more than a century old. The complex has major problems such a architectural damage, roof leaks, steam pipe bursts etc. Chunks of masonary occasionally come crashing down. Media reports suggest that electrical and mechanical systems were last renovated in the 1940s.
In 2018, after years of dilly-dallying, MPs decided to move out in mid 2020s to make way for years of repair works.
The palace is a masterpiece of architecture. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. About 1 million people visit it each year. The building was designed by architect Charles Barry in neo-Gothic style. The previous parliament complex was destroyed in fire in 1834.
Full statement of committee chair
Here is the full statement from Dame Meg Hiller, MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee.
“After years of procrastination and debate, resolutions of the House overturned and the exploding costs we saw in restoring just the Elizabeth Tower, it is difficult to have confidence in the future of the project to repair and restore this iconic world heritage site that thousands of people work in and visit every day.”
But without Parliament and the public having that confidence these critical works will continue to stall, with the real risk that the whole building will be destroyed by a catastrophic incident before the work is done, or perhaps even begun. There are already people on decades-long risk watchlists after being exposed to asbestos in the building; a building that’s leaking, dropping masonry and at constant risk of fire.
Given the uncertainties over how the clerks will manage their legal responsibilities, who will really be held responsible and accountable if the unthinkable happens? In response to this report the PAC expects a lot more clarity on those critical issues and, finally, a clear indication of the cost and timeline for getting this massive job done before it becomes too late to do so.”
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