Renovation delays pose "Notre Dame-like" fire risk for Houses of Parliament

A government report has found that risks of a major fire at the Palace of Westminster are rising as health and safety incidents increase at the UK parliament building in London, amid continuing delays to its renovation. Released last week by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the report said that maintenance costs for the UNESCO-listed structure are expected to rise from £1.5 million to £2 million a week if no action is taken. According to the latest report on the restoration, the overall cost of the renovation will rise by £420 million for each year the project is delayed. Parliament voted in 2018 to vacate the Palace for restoration, however this has been delayed by ongoing disagreements about how fully the House of Commons and House of Lords should leave during the anticipated decades-long renovation. “Political allergy” to updating the building According to Public Accounts Committee chair Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, current fire risks could result in “Notre Dame-like flames” at the parliament building, which in 2023 was reported by the committee to be at “constant risk of fire”. “There has long been a political allergy to gripping the nettle that is R&R [repair and renovation],” Clifton-Brown said. “Consider the impact of global rolling news footage of Notre Dame-like flames licking out of the building’s roof, resulting in the destruction of our heritage, or worse, injuries or loss of life,” he continued. “These are not notional possibilities, but real and rising risks which our committee identified three years ago.” Renovation strategy to be decided by 2030 The report outlines four strategies for the renovation of the building laid out by the client board, with one needing to be selected by parliament by 2030 for the programme to progress. Two of these strategies have been recommended by the client board in a bid to speed up the decision-making process. These are fully leaving the building, which is estimated to cost between £11.1 billion to £15.6 billion and take 19 to 24 years, and the partially vacating the building, which is estimated at £19.5 billion to £39.2 billion and could take up to 61 years. Approving either of these recommendations would require parliamentary approval. “All options ahead involve extremely high figures with very big ranges,” Clifton-Brown said. “At a time of national fiscal constraint, we would expect the parliamentary authorities to examine these figures extremely carefully to see how they can be reduced before the vote.” The PAC’s report also found that there are areas that still need costing, including aspects like decommissioning, relocation of the building’s services, and the restoration of the medieval cloister court. The cross-party committee has urged the clerks of both House of Commons and House of Lords to set out remaining cost estimates and provide a detailed schedule for the works. “It is crucial that we preserve the palace as a symbol of our democracy,” the report said. “A failure to act would have serious consequences for taxpayers and future generations.” The renovation of the adjacent Elizabeth Tower was recently completed by architecture studio Purcell, and last year was awarded a RIBA London award. Image by Pandora Pictures courtesy of Shutterstock Read more