Recommendation 8

Asbestos remains a serious and pressing concern for those who live and work in the Palace and wider parliamentary estate – since 2016 there have been 8 asbestos incidents.16 The Chief Executive of the R&R Delivery Authority informed us asbestos could perhaps be found at 2,500 sites, including within inaccessible areas such as pipe lagging, ducts and voids. Removing asbestos from the Palace could require an estimated 300 people working for two and a half years while the site was not being used.17 The Delivery Authority continues to undertake work to fully understand the type and distribution of asbestos throughout the Palace but does not expect to be able to fully catalogue its existence prior to any restoration work commencing.18 7 Committee of Public Accounts, Nineteenth Report of Session 2019–21, Restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster, HC 549, 2 October 2020 8 Q 2 9 Qq 37–38 10 Q 2 11 Q 1 12 Qq 3, 35 13 Q 61 14 Q 26 15 Committee of Public Accounts, Nineteenth Report of Session 2019–21, Restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster, HC 549, 2 October 2020; Committee of Public Accounts, Tenth Report of Session 2022–23, Restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster, HC 49, 29 June 2022 16 Letter from Sir John Benger, 1 February 2023; Letter from Sir John Benger 29 March 2022 17 Qq 11–12 18 Q 47 Restoration & Renewal of the Palace of Westminster – 2023 Recall 11