Essential refurbishment of the crumbling Houses of Parliament has been “paused” for at least another six months - and could be cancelled entirely, the Mirror has learned.
The costly, long-running project was effectively left at a standstill after its strategic team was unexpectedly scrapped by a Commons body last week.
Plans to bring a ‘business case’ for the work for MPs to vote on have been pushed from next Summer well into 2024.
And some sources believe the “Restoration and Renewal” (R&R) project could end up being dissolved entirely, and replaced with a “patch and mend” process to fix the most serious problems with the building piecemeal over the course of 50 years.
Sources close to the ‘Restoration and Renewal’ (R&R) project fear the crumbling Palace of Westminster could become another Notre Dame if decisions are not taken soon.
Parliament’s maze of lift shafts and corridors, run through with an ageing electrical system, means a fire could spread rapidly through the building in the same way as the 850-year-old Paris Cathedral.
“There’s no sense of urgency,” one insider said. “It’s mad.”
And there’s concern the public might think proper restoration had already been underway for years while the Elizabeth Tower - which houses Big Ben - was under scaffolding.
“That’s just maintenance really,” a source working on the R&R project said.
“They’ve done a lovely job on it, but the work that needs to be done to make the building safe is on another scale.”
Traditionalist Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg has been accused of being a ‘road block’ to any plans to have MPs move out of the building during works - something he denies.
It emerged this week that dozens of people had been warned they had been exposed to asbestos during maintenance work in the building.
Over the last three years, authorities recorded 15 separate incidents of falling masonry on the estate - and there were 19 reported fires between 2017 and 2019.
And in 2020 the Commons Public Accounts Committee estimated the cost to the taxpayer of maintaining the crumbling building rose by £2 million for every week the project has been delayed.
In 2018, MPs voted in favour of moving out of the building while work was underway, and the Sponsor Body was given the job of coming up with firm plans.
But cost estimates spiralled to between £12bn and £20bn - with MPs set to be ejected from the building for more than a decade.
The Commons Commission last year (2021) delayed the project, asking the Sponsor Body to ‘review’ it and come up with a way to keep a “sustained presence” of MPs during the refurb.
The review found even partial occupation of the Palace while work was underway would take “decades” longer, cost far more and involve an “extraordinary level of risk” to workers and people remaining on the premises.The review alone is reported to have cost between £2m and £5m to undertake.
But rather than take the advice of the body, the Commission decided to scrap it and form a new body.
Sources told the Mirror Jacob Rees-Mogg had been a ‘road block’ to plans to move out of the building while work is underway - and had “pushed back” on any option involving a ‘decant’.
But a spokesperson for Mr Rees-Mogg denied this, saying it was not “fair or accurate.”
The spokesperson said: “He was opposed to a scheme costing over £14 billion and lasting 28 years with a 20 year decant, which is what has been proposed by the sponsor body.
“Members originally voted for a decant of six years in 2018. During his time as leader the house significantly increased the pace of restoration.”
He added: “It's also inaccurate to describe him as a roadblock on the commission considering the fact the Government does not have a majority on there and he was far from the only person sceptical of an expansive [Restoration and Renewal programme] with a long decant.”
Tory MP Mark Spencer, who replaced Mr Rees-Mogg as Commons Leader last month, has indicated he too has reservations about ‘decanting’ MPs and peers.
Speaking to the BBC last week, he compared the idea to “moving out into a caravan in the garden and letting the builders loose.”
The Commons Commission, made up of the Speaker, Commons leader and a handful of MPs and officials, decided to scrap the ‘arms-length’ Sponsor Body last week - to be replaced by an as yet undecided body reporting directly to them and their counterparts in the House of Lords.
Both the Commons and Lords Commissions are set to meet in the coming weeks to hammer out the next steps.
