Parliamentary Buildings by Richard Kelly
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BRIEFING PAPER Number 8568, 16 May 2019 Parliamentary Buildings By Richard Kelly (Restoration and Renewal) Bill 2017-19 Contents: 1. Restoration and Renewal 2. Progress so far 3. Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill 4. The Bill 5. Northern Estate Programme www.parliament.uk/commons-library | intranet.parliament.uk/commons-library | [email protected] | @commonslibrary 2 Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill 2017-19 Contents Summary 3 The Bill 3 Background 3 Northern Estate Programme 4 1. Restoration and Renewal 6 2. Progress so far 8 2.1 Identifying the extent of the problem and developing proposals 8 2.2 Joint Committee review of options 8 2.3 Parliament agrees with the Joint Committee’s recommendations 10 2.4 The debate in the Commons 11 2.5 Subsequent developments 13 3. Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill 14 3.1 Looking forward to the draft bill 14 3.2 Publication of the draft bill 14 3.3 Joint Committee to scrutinise the draft bill 15 3.4 Pre-legislative scrutiny 16 Powers and duties of the Sponsor Body 16 4. The Bill 23 4.1 Introduction 23 4.2 The “Parliamentary building works” – clause 1 24 4.3 The Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body – clause 2 24 Schedule 1 26 4.4 The Delivery Authority – clause 3 27 Schedule 2 28 4.5 Relationship between the Sponsor Body and Parliament – clause 6 29 4.6 Parliamentary approval for works and funding – clause 7 29 4.7 Parliamentary Works Estimate Commission – clause 8 30 Schedule 3 30 4.8 Funding – clause 9 30 Schedule 4 30 4.9 Abolition and dissolution of the statutory bodies – clauses 10 and 11 31 4.10 Commencement – clause 14 32 4.11 Remaining clauses 33 5. Northern Estate Programme 34 5.1 The Bill and the NEP 37 5.2 Consulting on the NEP 38 Cover page image copyright: Attributed to: DSC_1403 by © UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor. This image is subject to parliamentary copyright 3 Commons Library Briefing, 16 May 2019 Summary The Bill The Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill 2017-19 [Bill 388] was introduced in the House of Commons on 8 May 2019, by the Leader of the House of Commons. As well as other Cabinet ministers, Valerie Vaz, the shadow Leader of the House of Commons, is also a sponsor of the Bill. A written statement from the Leader of the House of Commons, on the same day, noted that the Bill would give effect to resolutions passed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords on 31 January and 6 February 2018, respectively. The Leader of the House has announced that the second reading will take place on 21 May 2019. The Bill defines “the Parliamentary building works”, which encompasses “Palace restoration works” – the Restoration and Renewal Programme. The scope of the definition is wider than the Palace restoration works. This is to allow the Commissions of the House of Commons and of the House of Lords, with the agreement of the Sponsor Body and Delivery Authority, to designate other works relating to the Parliamentary Estate as works to be undertaken by the programme. The Bill establishes the statutory body that will have overall responsibility for the Parliamentary building works – the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body. It requires the Sponsor Body to form a company limited by guarantee – the Delivery Authority – to formulate proposals relating to Palace restoration works and to carry out the Parliamentary building works. The Bill also establishes the Parliamentary Works Estimate Commission. Estimates are prepared by the Sponsor Body. The Estimates Commission is responsible for laying estimates before the House of Commons. Before doing so, it has to review them and if the anticipated final cost exceeds the amount of funds allocated for the works, it can reject the estimate and require the Sponsor Body to prepare a new estimate. The Bill requires parliamentary approval for the proposed Palace restoration works and the funding of those works. Before that approval is obtained, expenditure is limited to preparatory works, which include initial design works and works that “do not affect the continued functioning of the Palace of Westminster for the purposes of either House of Parliament”. So there are two phases: • In phase one – before Parliamentary approval – expenditure limits are set by the Commissions of the two Houses. • In phase two – after Parliamentary approval – expenditure limits are set in the approval resolution. Background The introduction of the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill 2017-19 followed a long drawn out process of assessing and reviewing the state of the Palace of Westminster and of determining how best to proceed. • In autumn 2012, the authorities of the two Houses agreed that major works were required, following an internal review. They ruled out leaving the Palace of Westminster and finding a new site for Parliament. 4 Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill 2017-19 • In 2013, the authorities of the two Houses commissioned an independent options appraisal on how to conduct the works. • The resulting independent options appraisal, Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Programme Independent Options Appraisal, was published on 18 June 2015. • A Joint Committee was established to consider how to proceed. In its report, Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster (September 2016), it concluded that there was “a clear and pressing need to tackle the work required to the Palace of Westminster and to do so in a comprehensive and strategic manner to prevent catastrophic failure in the next decade. We have also concluded that, in principle, a full decant of the Palace of Westminster presents the best option under which to deliver this work”. It also concluded that new governance arrangements needed to be put in place. It recommended that a Sponsor Board, including MPs and heritage and construction experts, should be established to oversee the delivery of the Restoration and Renewal Programme. • In January/February 2018, the House of Commons and the House of Lords endorsed the Joint Committee’s recommendations. They resolved that the work was pressing, a full decant was the best delivery option, the work should be undertaken by a statutory Sponsor Body and Delivery Authority, and immediate steps should be taken to establish them in shadow form. They required that both Houses return to their respective Chambers as soon as possible. • In July 2018, the Commissions of the two Houses confirmed the membership of the shadow Sponsor Body. • In October 2018, the Draft Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (Cm 9710) was published by the Government. • A joint committee was appointed to conduct pre-legislative scrutiny. Its report, Governance of Restoration and Renewal, was published in March 2019. • The Government’s response was published on 7 May 2019. • The Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill 2017-19 was introduced in the House of Commons on 8 May 2019. A Library Briefing Paper, Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster (CBP 7898, 3 December 2018), provides more background on the programme up to the appointment of the joint committee on the draft bill. Northern Estate Programme The January/February 2018 resolutions of the two Houses requiring the establishment of the Sponsor Body and the Delivery Authority only referred to works in the Palace of Westminster (including the decant and decant venue of the House of Lords). The Northern Estate Programme (NEP) is a House of Commons programme of refurbishment of buildings and the construction of a temporary Chamber. It is proposed that whilst both Houses are unable to use the Palace of Westminster, the House of Commons will sit in this temporary Chamber. A majority of witnesses who appeared before the Joint Committee on the Draft Parliamentary Buildings Bill thought it would be sensible for the sponsor Body to take charge of the NEP as well as the works in the Palace, because of the interdependency of the programmes. The Bill would allow this to happen but does not require it. 5 Commons Library Briefing, 16 May 2019 The Joint Committee noted that Andrea Leadsom expressed concern that incorporating the NEP into the Sponsor Body’s responsibilities would add to the complexity of the project. However, the Joint Committee argued that the House of Commons Commission, which is responsible for the NEP, “is not an organisation whose primary purpose is to manage major building works and we do not believe that it should retain this responsibility when a dedicated organisation is ready and able to take over”. It recommended that “the shadow Sponsor Body take on de facto responsibility for all the works necessary for decant even before the Act to set up the statutory body is passed” and that “Once the Sponsor Body has been established in its substantive form we believe it should take control of the Northern Estate Programme”. In its response to the Joint Committee, the Government noted that the Bill would allow the NEP to be included in the Parliamentary works programme. It also acknowledged the interdependent relationship between the two programmes. It noted that discussions about integrating the programmes were underway. However, it considered that full integration “may be more appropriate” after Royal Assent, when “the Sponsor Body and Delivery Authority are established in substantive form, and all the statutory accountability and financial safeguards are in place”. The House of Commons launched a consultation on its proposals for a temporary House of Commons at Parliament’s Northern Estate on 8 May 2019. 6 Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill 2017-19 1. Restoration and Renewal The Palace of Westminster is an iconic Grade I listed building.