Recommendation 7

Since the establishment of the Programme in 2012, it has taken 8 years to the establishment of the Sponsor Body. Each year that passes increases the risk to life, failure of key utilities or irreparable damage to the building itself, such as from a catastrophic fire.12 While waiting for the Programme to approve a more long-term solution, Parliament has taken a ‘make-do-and-mend’ approach maintaining the ageing Palace systems. This spend has increased from £62 million in 2015–16 to £127 million in 2018–19, totalling £369 million across the four-year period—an average of around £2 million per week.13