Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 28
28
Whilst the IPA has provided support and advice in an advisory capacity to the programme,...
Conclusion
Whilst the IPA has provided support and advice in an advisory capacity to the programme, it does not currently fall within the IPA’s formal remit. The IPA was engaged in implementing the recommendations of the Joint Committee report on the Palace of Westminster of September 2016, and did support the Cabinet Office in preparing the Act, which set up the Sponsor Board and Delivery Authority, after which the IPA ceased to have formal involvement with the project.56 The IPA has provided further advice when invited to, such as in March 2020, when asked by the Cabinet Office to give advice concerning the status of the project. At this time, the IPA they confirmed that the rationale for the programme is clear, and that since the programme did not have an agreed scope, budget or programme at the strategic level and is therefore subject to considerable challenges 49 Q 65 50 Qq 65, 66 51 Q 66 52 Q 65 53 Committee of Public Accounts, Oral Evidence: Delivering Major Projects in government, HC 710, January 2016, Qq 83–89 54 Q 27 55 Committee of Public Accounts, Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster, Nineteenth report of Session 2019–21, HC 549, 2 October 2020, Summary 56 Q 17; Letter from Infrastructure and Projects Authority dated 14 December 2020, page 1 Lessons from major projects and programmes 15 to prepare a deliverable Outline Business Case.57 The IPA told us that it approved of the recent pause to review the programme, for the programme to refine the boundaries of how it will be delivered and what the optimum minimum scope will be.58
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
6.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 6.2 The government recognises the importance of the Restoration and Renewal project and the complex challenge it presents. As the Committee acknowledges, R&R is a parliamentary rather than a government project. Therefore, it is not part of the GMPP and so not subject to HM Treasury Approval Points. While the IPA has provided informal advice at the request of the Sponsor Body and Delivery Authority, the IPA is not part of the ‘Parliamentary Relationship Agreement’ or the ‘Programme Delivery Agreement’, which formalise the programme’s assurance regime. The IPA can continue to provide informal advice on the project where requested, but with respect for the sovereignty of Parliament, any responsibility for formally scrutinising or assuring the project must be based on an invitation from Parliament and amendment to the existing agreements.