Public Accounts Committee: Palace of Westminster faces 'catastrophic' risk without urgent rebuild
The Public Accounts Committee says urgent reconstruction is needed to prevent uncontrolled decay and rising costs.
The Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons has warned that the Palace of Westminster is at risk of a "catastrophic event" comparable to the 2019 fire at Notre-Dame in Paris unless an urgent reconstruction programme begins.
The committee said that, without appropriate interventions, the historic building that houses the British Parliament will at best start to deteriorate in an uncontrolled way.
Rising running costs and steeper bills for delay
The committee's report estimates that weekly maintenance costs for the parliamentary estate will rise in the coming years from £1.5 million to £2 million (2.4 million euros).
It also warns that every year the restoration programme is delayed will add an extra £420 million (503 million euros) to the cost of implementing the works.
The report was published ahead of a series of parliamentary votes on the future direction of the Palace of Westminster restoration programme, votes that had been scheduled earlier this year but were postponed.
The committee called for urgent action to begin the reconstruction in order to prevent further deterioration and to avoid the far higher costs that continued delay would bring.
Photo: press material from the event
