Recommendation 18

The Clerk of the House of Commons told us that resolutions passed by Parliament were unrealistic. There will be unavoidable trade-offs between cost, accessibility and sustainability. For example, the Commissions set out health and safety as their primary commitment but to meet sustainability expectations there will be additional costs and compromises over how space used. Also, ‘bold claims’ have been made relating to the removal of asbestos that will have a significant additional impact on cost, while attempts to make the building fully accessible would be “staggeringly expensive” despite consensus of the need for a ‘step-change’ in accessibility.43