Recommendation 14

The Clerk of the Commons told us he felt that the governance was in as good a place as it could be, but recognised that this is a critical year for the programme. Managing the risks to the timetable will be vital to maintain the programme’s momentum,34 and the next significant step in this ambitious timetable will be for the R&R Client Team to present Parliament with a strategic case by the end of 2023. Following a steer from the Programme Board, this would be a high-level assessment of options, with designs and indicative costs and timings, so Parliament could decide on one preferred option to take forward. Subsequently, sometime during 2024 or 2025, depending on the timing of a general election, the R&R Client Team will then present Parliament a more specific, costed piece of work to vote on in a more conventional manner which will then potentially lead to work being started.35 Before the R&R Client Team presents a business case substantial volumes of work will need to be conducted to develop options and evaluation criteria, undertake evaluations and progress this work through the current governance structures.36 28 Hansard Volume 827, Restoration and Renewal Programme Board, 22 February 2023 29 Committee of Public Accounts, Tenth Report of Session 2022–23, Restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster, HC 49, 29 June 2022 30 Response to Committee of Public Accounts Tenth Report of Session 2022–23, Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster 31 Q 102 32 Q 106 33 Q 108 34 Qq 108, 113; Joint letter to PAC from the Clerks, Delivery Authority CEO and Sponsor Body CEO, 31 October 2022 35 Qq 18–19 36 Qq 44, 55 Restoration & Renewal of the Palace of Westminster – 2023 Recall 13 Uncertainty over the programme