Fears are mounting that the £5.6billion costs for restoring Parliament could spiral as details emerged of peers’ ideas for their temporary accommodation.
The House of Lords was due to be relocated from the Palace of Westminster to the nearby QEII conference centre with ‘minimal’ refitting when the huge scheme finally gets under way.
But there is alarm over the scale of the overhaul being proposed to the stopgap building, with peers suggesting a grand new central staircase to bring in more ‘natural light’, and turning the sixth floor into a catering suite with bars and restaurants.
Changes to the frontage of the conference centre, which is widely regarded as ugly by politicians, are also being mooted.
The ideas were revealed as senior insiders told MailOnline the restoration plan – much of which is essential to fix leaks, fire hazards, asbestos and creaking infrastructure – is already in a ‘mess’.
MPs and peers voted two years ago in favour of moving off the estate for the first time since the Luftwaffe bombed chamber in 1941.
Peers have been making plans for their temporary accommodation when the restoration of the Palace of Westminster begins. PIctured is the House of Lords last month
The House of Lords is due to be relocated to the nearby QEII conference centre with ‘minimal’ refitting when the multi-billion pound scheme finally gets under way
Peers are expected to relocate to the nearby QEII centre during the restoration, while MPs will have a temporary chamber in Richmond House
With costs for restoring the whole Palace of Westminster (pictured) currently estimated at up to £5.6billion, slippage could be catastrophic
There is fury among politicians that they were recently forced to approve a huge rise in the budget for the Big Ben refurbishment – from under £30million originally to around £80million.
With costs for restoring the whole Palace of Westminster currently estimated at up to £5.6billion, anything like the same slippage could be catastrophic.
There is also deep anxiety that the timetable – initially forecast to start in 2025 and end between five and eight years later – will stretch even further.
Complaints have been growing that Opposition members of the ruling Commons commission are trying to add ‘all sorts’ of upgrades into the proposals. ‘The lefties are trying to chuck all sorts in there,’ one source said.
MPs are due to sit in a temporary chamber being created in Richmond House, which borders the existing Parliamentary estate. The original scoping report produced by consultants in 2015 laid out a range of possible upgrades to the estate including creating underground meeting space below the current New Palace Yard, with ‘natural light from a landscaped courtyard above’.
Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg is understood to be ‘all over’ the process and constantly reminding colleagues of their responsibility to make sure ‘taxpayers get value for money’. Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle is also keen to stop the programme running out of control.
Some MPs believe there will be an effort to reverse the decision to evacuate the premises altogether, and carry out running repair with MPs and peers still using the Palace – although key figures say that is unlikely due to safety concerns and logistical problems.
Minutes of a cross-party Lords committee meeting last month shows they discussed options for QEII including ‘the provision of a staircase through the centre of the whole building to bring in natural light and improve access options between floors’.
Following concerns that peers will be deprived of access to subsidised bars and restaurants, the minutes referred to a proposal ‘for the top floor to provide the majority of catering services, a mixture of served and self-service; with the main preparation kitchen located in the basement’.
There could be ‘smaller outlets located throughout the building’.
The Tory Leader of the Lords, Baroness Evans, is understood to be ‘hawkish’ about costs, and has demanded updated information on the budgets.
Figures in a report produced by a Joint Committee of both Houses in 2016 suggested the ‘decant’ of the whole Palace of Westminster would cost £380million.
But it made clear that figure was based on work on temporary accommodation being ‘minimised as far as possible’.
‘A minimum level of reconfiguration and fit-out of the temporary buildings should be carried out, except where it is essential for business need, security, building regulations or accessibility reasons,’ the report said.
The situation has been complicated further by briefings from No10 that it is considering relocating the Lords to York on a permanent basis, as part of moves to reconnect politics with the wider country.
Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg (left) is understood to be reminding colleagues of their responsibility to make sure ‘taxpayers get value for money’. The budget for the Big Ben refurbishment (pictured right) have risen from under £30million to around £80million
MPs are due to sit in a temporary chamber being created in Richmond House, which borders the existing Parliamentary estate (artist’s impression)
Parliament is expected to hand responsibility for delivering the restoration to an expert ‘sponsor board’, a similar model to that used for the 2012 Olympics.
No final decisions will be taken until it produces an outline business case, expected next year.
Tory MP Shailesh Vara said: ‘Given that Big Ben was originally due to cost £29million but has escalated to £80million, and the timeframe has moved from 18 months to some four years, it is clear that the cost and timescale for the full restoration of the Palace of Westminster will be hugely more than the original estimates.
‘There’s no doubt that that the work needs to be done. But we do need to consider whether the present proposal is the right way forward.
‘Because at present it is proving more expensive by the day.’
A House of Lords spokesman said: ‘The QEII Centre is the preferred option for the House of Lords when they leave the Palace of Westminster to allow the Restoration and Renewal works to begin. However, planning for this is at a very early stage.
‘Any redevelopment of the QEII will be carried out in an efficient and cost effective way while ensuring the property complies with modern building regulations and disability access requirements.’