Recommendation 17

The scope of the work, in terms of what a restored Palace would look like and how work would be undertaken, remains uncertain. We asked the Programme SRO about the risk of Parliament being unable to decide how to reduce the programme scope by the end of 2023. She told us that the ability of politicians to make decisions was the “ top risk on our risk register.”40 In 2020, we raised the ability to reach decisions as a risk – at that time the former Sponsor Body had not made it clear how it would balance Parliament’s range of views on the programme.41 The Sponsor Body had previously been provided a vision, or broad range of underlying strategic themes, to develop as part of the business case. This included improving disabled access; installing new fire safety systems; repairing and conserving the Palace and creating a building that ensures efficient and responsible resource consumption.42