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🗣️ Speeches and Debates
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The New Palace Yard project will be completed this month, at an expected cost of £62 million, within the latest approved business case. The project included important security works and significant ground and heritage works.
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There have been different estimates for the stages of the project, as the hon. Gentleman rightly points out. The costs have evolved since 2017. I will send him the recent Finance Committee report, which was published just before Christmas and goes into detail on this matter. Delays have occurred, particularly at peak times, and it has taken too long for vehicles to leave, but steps are being...
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The restoration and renewal programme has engaged extensively with Members of both Houses. In this Parliament, there have been 380 interactions with MPs and peers through briefings, tours and events. The number of interactions over the past three years, since January 2023, is about 980. The client board will shortly publish a report to help us all decide on the preferred way forward.
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After ramping up engagement on the cost information, and once the House has provided direction on the R and R programme, if we do go to full decant, the Lords will likely go to the Queen Elizabeth II centre and MPs to the northern estate. There will be ongoing work on temporary accommodation, and the related impact on jobs is for us all to consider in future.
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My hon. Friend always takes an interest in ceramics and parliamentary procurement. He will remember that approximately 85% of ceramic items purchased in our gift shops are either fully or partially made in the UK. More widely, Parliament endeavours to purchase British goods, in compliance with the procurement legislation. If he would like further information, I would be very happy to help him.
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My hon. Friend is a doughty campaigner for ceramics and Stoke. The limited edition House of Commons Christmas mugs are a popular product in our gift shop. Those products are sourced as unfinished products from overseas and then hand-finished in the UK. This approach ensures that the product is commercially viable to purchase and that the retail team can sell it while maintaining high...
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Constituents in the upper Rhymney valley face unacceptably high petrol prices. When I wrote to the Competition and Markets Authority about that, it referred to a forthcoming fuel finder scheme; however, that scheme has no confirmed launch date. I get that this is complicated, but will the Leader of the House please encourage Ministers to provide a statement on when that scheme will be...
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Maduro was an illegitimate president. In The New York Times today, Colette Capriles, writing from Caracas, describes a “struggle for survival”, a “primitive capitalism”, a “web of bosses, private loyalties, corrupt practices and institutional ruins that have replaced public life” in Venezuela. I ask the Foreign Secretary: what can the UK do to support the development of strong...
More of Nick Smith's speeches and debates
✍️ Written Questions and Answers
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The House of Commons Commission has no responsibility for issuing such guidance. It may be helpful to know that the Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules on Registration does not directly reference crypto currencies. Paragraphs 14 to 20 of the Guide to the Rules on Registration set out the requirements for registering donations under Category 2: Donations and other support for activities as...
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The total cost of the New Palace Yard works is expected to be £62million and includes security works, significant ground-work and heritage works. Of this, the main construction works contracts were worth £42.6million. The main works contract was tendered as a two-stage tender, under the Southern Construction Framework. BAM were awarded the main construction works contract for each of the...
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The funding for work related to Restoration and Renewal comes from several budgets. The majority of R&R funding is provided through the R&R Delivery Authority’s Main Estimate which is subject to various stages of parliamentary scrutiny and approval. The funding approval process is partly set out in the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019. The House Commissions are...
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The Commission expects to consider the Administration’s Estimate for 2026/27 in February 2026, which will include the final budget for Strategic Estates. In 2025/26 the Strategic Estates budget is £104m resource and £201.2m capital. This is a bicameral budget and House of Commons share is £79.3m resource and £171.6 capital.
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Drinking water is supplied to every floor in Tothill Street in a tea station which has a sink and a zip tap. Each zip tap provides instant boiling as well as chilled drinking water. Faults have been reported on some zip taps in Tothill Street and repairs have been sought as quickly as possible. There is currently an outstanding fault on the First Floor which requires the zip tap to be...
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In the period 2015–2025 nothing from the Parliamentary Art Collection has been recorded as stolen or damaged beyond repair. Since 2023 items have been recorded as missing where they have not been located on the estate or in stores for between three and 20 years, in line with collections management best practice. The number of artworks recorded as missing in each year since 2023 was:2023 –...
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There are three lifts in the Tothill Street building and the lifts are part of a wider six-year refurbishment programme. Lift HoP 328 has been refurbished and is now in service. Work on lift HoP 329 is underway and expected to be complete by February 2026. Refurbishment of the final lift, HoP 330, is planned but does not yet have a confirmed date as the schedule is being reviewed. In the...
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We are not able to provide the number of parliamentary passes that were revoked for security reasons in each year since 2015. The pass system is a live database with accounts being deleted routinely in line with the data retention schedule, records are therefore not available in the way requested over the period. The Parliamentary Security Department (PSD) can revoke passes on security...
More of Nick Smith's written questions
