Recommendation 3

Transparency will be critical to facilitate accountability, and for Parliament and the public to gain confidence in the programme and its leadership. The current Client Board, alongside the Programme SRO, identified previous parliamentary engagement as having been insufficient. For example, in June 2022 we reported how the Commissions requested further information and re-opened parliamentary decisions. But the detailed reasons behind this decision were not public. The R&R Client Team has committed to greater transparency over progress and decision- making through a more focused engagement approach with Members and, as agreed following our previous recommendations, publishing quarterly progress reports. It will increase engagement leading up to critical decisions that both Houses will need to make on how the works will be undertaken. These decisions will need to be made in the context of an approaching election and affordability constraints across government, and without fully understanding programme costs or where Parliament will move during the works. Recommendation 3: The Clerks must commit to: a) Fulfilling commitments made to this Committee in 2022 which include publishing an annual performance report providing a timely and accurate programme overview. b) Improving member engagement, which will include managing their expectations on the information that will be available to make decisions at these early programme stages.