£70 million of taxpayers money has been written off after plans to refurbish the Palace of Westminster were cast into doubt.
Parliament was going to be temporarily relocated while renovations took place but with that looking less likely now the eye-watering amount of money has been written off as ‘constructive loss.’
The world famous Palace of Westminster is Grade-1 listed, but believed to be in a terrible state and riddled with asbestos, reports the Metro.
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Much of the building was rebuilt in the mid-1800s but parts of the building are more than 900 years old.
Debate over how the work is going to get done still lingers on despite MPs knowing for years a multi-billion pound project to restore the building is needed.
MPs voted to leave the palace back in 2018 for six years while work was carried out but nothing ever materialised.
Plans had been drawn up for the Commons chamber to be recreated in nearby Richmond House on Whitehall, as well as developing new office space on the same site.
Previous Commons speaker Andrea Leadsom signalled her support for the proposals but her successor, Jacob Rees-Mogg, has reopened the debate.
Mr Rees-Mogg has recently claimed the renovations could now cost in the region of £20bn, much more than the £4bn originally thought.
The annual accounts of the House of Commons have seemingly confirmed the proposal is once again up in the air.
The report says work on Richmond House has started and moves are ‘expected during summer 2021’ but the eventual aim of the project is unclear.
The accounts note the ‘increased uncertainty over the scope and timing of the longer term plans’.
It confirms a total of £70.2m has been written off as officials ‘could no longer be sure that the work undertaken so far has an economic value.'
New plans for the refurbishment are not due to be presented to MPs until 2023.
A spokesperson for the Commons told The Times: “The commission agreed in September 2020 that Richmond House would be used as accommodation for members, and to create better welfare facilities for house staff, in order to ensure the decant of Norman Shaw North could proceed as planned.
“Work to reconfigure parts of Richmond House has started, with moves expected during summer recess 2021.
“Beyond this, further works on Richmond House are currently paused until there is more certainty regarding the R&R delivery strategy.”
