Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Accepted
Clerks prioritize Palace safety by strengthening teams, but confidence in robust structures is lacking
Conclusion
Managing the safety of the Palace remains a top priority for the Clerks and House Administrations.24 As they have been unhappy about the treatment of several safety issues, which also includes 12 instances of falling masonry, and given an increase in the volume of maintenance work, the Clerks have considered the structure of their safety teams and recently appointed a new Health and Safety Director.25 They, along with an additional six safety professionals appointed in the last 12 months, will have operational oversight for construction and maintenance safety management alongside the existing team.26 The Clerks also explained to us how they were more robustly compiling safety incidents through a dedicated database. However, the Clerk of the House of Commons recognised that he did not yet feel confident that safety structures were robust enough.27 Establishing new programme governance
Government Response Summary
The Clerks agree on the need for robust safety structures and are implementing a Programme Delivery Agreement to ensure high safety standards with contractors. They are also continuing to improve incident reporting and plan to appoint an interim Director of Parliamentary Safety shortly.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Clerk of the House and Clerk of the Parliaments agree with this recommendation. The Clerks fully recognise the need to reiterate the importance of excellent health and safety performance, including the timeliness and accuracy of reporting, to all those involved in ongoing construction activities and future R&R works. The House safety teams work closely with the supply chain and their counterparts in the R&R team to do so. As contractors engaged in the substantial R&R works will have a contractual relationship with the R&R Delivery Authority, rather than the House Authorities, the Clerks will utilise the Programme Delivery Agreement to be explicit with the high expectations they have of them in managing their supply chain and seek assurances of their mechanisms to hold poor performers to account. This agreement will also outline how both organisations will cooperate with one another on health and safety matters; and take reasonable steps to coordinate activities and inform one another where there are risks to health and safety. To supplement the agreement, the Houses have a robust framework of monitoring and assurance to ensure that responsibilities of all parties are fully discharged and any indicators of poor performance are identified early and acted upon. In addition, the Clerks would like to note that, as outlined in their oral evidence, Parliament has always had a database of incidents, in order to discharge its obligations under health and safety and social security law. Improvements have been made to the accuracy and timeliness of incident reporting which underpins the database. The recruitment of a new Director of Parliamentary Safety remains ongoing. An interim is expected to be appointed shortly, to ensure necessary improvements to safety structures and governance are expedited.