{"id":47378,"date":"2026-07-17T15:36:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T14:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=47378"},"modified":"2026-07-17T15:36:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T14:36:30","slug":"nao-report-assesses-progress-of-parliament-restoration-and-renewal-programme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=47378","title":{"rendered":"NAO Report assesses progress of parliament Restoration and Renewal Programme"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Houses_of_Parliament_in_2022_cropped.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"518\" src=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Houses_of_Parliament_in_2022_cropped-1024x518.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-45653\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Houses_of_Parliament_in_2022_cropped-1024x518.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Houses_of_Parliament_in_2022_cropped-300x152.jpg 300w, https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Houses_of_Parliament_in_2022_cropped-768x389.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Houses_of_Parliament_in_2022_cropped-1536x778.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Houses_of_Parliament_in_2022_cropped.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-gray-color has-text-color has-link-color has-small-font-size wp-elements-f4f4c292130438f7c0daf72bc58b3931 wp-block-paragraph\"><em>image for illustration: <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Houses_of_Parliament_in_2022_(cropped).jpg\">Palace of Westminster, Big Ben, and Westminster Bridge as seen from the south bank of the River Thames by Terry Ott, CC-BY-2.0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The National Audit Office (NAO) Report Value for Money has examined the proposals for restoring the Palace of Westminster and has assessed them against established practice for major programmes<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NAO writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The National Audit Office has examined the proposals for restoring the Palace of Westminster and has assessed them against established practice for major programmes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The report looks at whether the Restoration and Renewal Programme is set up for success at this stage of development.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It sets out key findings to inform the Public Accounts Committee\u2019s scrutiny of the Programme, including the implications of delaying decisions; the level of certainty in cost and schedule estimates; the readiness and risks of \u2018Phase One\u2019 works; and the effectiveness of current governance arrangements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A new National Audit Office (NAO) report examines the progress and evidence underlying the costed proposals for the programme to restore and renew the Palace of Westminster (the Palace) and assesses them against established practice to determine whether the programme is currently set up for success. The Palace, a Grade I listed building within a UNESCO World Heritage site, requires extensive restoration to address serious risks, including failing mechanical and electrical systems, fire safety issues and high levels of asbestos.&nbsp; The Restoration and Renewal Programme (the Programme) is intended to address these concerns. The Programme is now at a critical stage, with parliamentary approval being sought to reduce the number of options from four to two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two recommended options are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Full decant: \u00a311.1 billion to \u00a315.6 billion, 19 to 24 years<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enhanced Maintenance and Improvement plus (EMI+): \u00a319.5 billion to \u00a339.2 billion, 38 to 61 years<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Building on its previous work,5 this new report by the independent public spending watchdog finds that further delaying the decision on which option to pursue carries risks to achieving value for money, with each year of delay adding between \u00a3320 million to \u00a3420 million to the overall cost of delivering the Programme. Although the options and their underlying estimates have been through a standard process of development and have been subject to internal and external checks to examine and assure them, all are at an early stage and are likely to face cost and schedule pressures as designs develop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The costed proposals provide enough information for a decision, although the EMI options are less developed and more uncertain. The proposals also recommend that Parliament approves an initial seven-year programme of \u2018Phase One\u2019 enabling works capped at \u00a33 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Undertaking these works is a sensible approach,6 as this allows the Programme to progress while managing several risks.7 But plans for how the works will be overseen and delivered need to be finalised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Suitable temporary accommodation is essential if the Houses are to decant and Parliament is to function properly. All Programme options depend on this accommodation being ready on time, but current risks could delay the move, particularly the full decant option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Programme must also strengthen its governance arrangements to be able to bear down on cost, schedule and scope; manage interdependencies across the Programme; and support Parliament\u2019s decision on the final delivery option. To put the Programme on a stronger footing, the NAO recommends that the responsible delivery teams:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>publish and regularly update a clear, non-technical summary, potentially alongside its business case, akin to Strategy and Delivery Plans used for mega-projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>provide cost estimate ranges for all \u2018Phase One\u2019 work packages and set out how interdependencies between key projects will be managed<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ensure that links and decision-making responsibilities between projects across the Programme and related work on the Parliamentary estate are managed through a single, integrated delivery plan<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>work with MPs and Lords at speed to create a clear vision for how each House, and Parliament as a whole, will operate in their temporary accommodation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>review the Programme\u2019s governance arrangements to set clear requirements and hold those delivering to account<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nao.org.uk\/press-releases\/nao-assesses-progress-of-parliament-restoration-and-renewal-programme\/\">Read more here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report is available on the NAO website via the following link <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nao.org.uk\/reports\/restoration-and-renewal-of-the-palace-of-westminster-2026-update\/\">here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nao.org.uk\/reports\/restoration-and-renewal-of-the-palace-of-westminster-2026-update\/\">Read the full update here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>image for illustration: Palace of Westminster, Big Ben, and Westminster Bridge as seen from the south bank of the River Thames by Terry Ott, CC-BY-2.0 The National Audit Office (NAO) Report Value for Money has examined the proposals for restoring &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=47378\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[18,9,193,273,716],"class_list":["post-47378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sector-newsblog","tag-conservation","tag-government","tag-london","tag-renovation","tag-westminster"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47378"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47381,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47378\/revisions\/47381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}