Big Ben repairs will clock up a far nastier bill than first thought
Written by News on 13/02/2020
An extra £18.6m is needed to repair the tower housing Big Ben, according to a new estimate.
The increase has been blamed on the discovery of asbestos, pollution and extensive Second World War bomb damage in the Elizabeth Tower, which houses the famous bell.
It means the bill will rise by almost a third from £61.1m to £79.7m.
Ian Ailles, director general of the House of Commons, said the works are proving “more complex than we could have anticipated”.
“With a 12 square metre (130 square feet) footprint and a prime location right in the middle of a busy working parliament, understanding the full extent of the damage to the Tower was impossible until the scaffolding was up,” he said.
“Alongside other issues, such as the impact of often inappropriate conservation methods used by our predecessors, the corrosive levels of pollution in the atmosphere and the discovery of asbestos in unexpected places, we have only now been able to fully understand the full investment required for this project.”
A spokesman for the House of Commons Commission said members were “extremely disappointed” by the request for “yet more funding”.
He added: “It is very frustrating to learn that the Elizabeth Tower project requires yet more funding, having agreed an extra £32m in 2017.
“We have requested more detailed information about the lessons learned from this experience – as well as assurances that more robust estimates are prepared for works of this nature in the future.”
The full scale of the work needed to complete the refurbishment by the deadline late in 2021 only became clear after the first “intrusive surveys” on the 177-year-old structure, officials said.
Asbestos was found in the belfry, broken glass in the clock dials and extensive use of toxic lead paint and defects in previous work.
The new budget will need to be approved by the accounting officers of the two houses.
(c) Sky News 2020: Big Ben repairs will clock up a far nastier bill than first thought
