Known asbestos items in Parliament rise by 500 since 2021
The number of known asbestos items in the Palace of Westminster and the wider parliamentary estate has risen to more than 1,650, an increase of 500 since 2021, according to BBC News. Asbestos is a mineral fibre that was used in many building materials. The known items include insulation, roofing, floor tiles and ropes.
Around 700 asbestos items have been removed from Parliament over the past five years, but the overall total has still gone up. Almost 200 items are classed as medium risk and may need remedial works, meaning repairs or other action to make them safe.
Parliamentary authorities said additional asbestos items were found during surveys carried out in preparation for the refurbishment project. They also said an asbestos-free building cannot be achieved in practice, because that would require demolition or extensive damage to the fabric of the building.
The refurbishment is part of Parliament's Restoration and Renewal programme, which was set up to carry out substantial repairs and modernisation of the Palace of Westminster. The proposed work could cost up to £40bn and take 61 years, the BBC reported.
The Commons Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a Conservative MP, warned that each additional year of delay to the restoration costs taxpayers £420m. The committee described the risks of continued delay as "real and rising risks". It said a fire similar to the one at Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, which took place in 2019, was among them, according to Sky News.
MPs also said ageing electrics, asbestos and failing safety systems put the historic building at risk, as The Times reported. MPs were told that it is crunch time for a decision on the refurbishment and were urged to press ahead. Fire patrols operate around the clock in the Parliament building, the BBC reported.
The current plans have a longer history. In 2022 the Sponsor Body for Parliament's Restoration and Renewal was abolished, and the exploration of options for the works was reopened. That March, the Commissions of the two Houses agreed what they called a "new approach" to the programme at a joint meeting.
