Parliament shells out £900k on cobblestones

Whether it’s falling masonry or rats, staff in the Houses of Parliament have to put up with a lot in their workplace. Since 2020 they have to endure the daily delight of navigating New Palace Yard in various states of repair. Parly bosses boast that this is to ‘deliver better and more inclusive accessibility, enhanced security, improved vehicular access as well as optimising and preserving the heritage of this historical part of the Palace of Westminster.’

Fair enough – but are they really getting bang for their buck? Mr S has done some digging to try to unearth the cost of four years of work. Commons staff weren’t too keen to give up the figures, telling Steerpike that they could not possibly disclose the total sum on the grounds of ‘health and safety’, ‘law enforcement’ and, er, ‘national security.’ But they did admit, in response to a Freedom of Information request, to spending more than £929,000 on ‘the cost of laying cobblestones as part of this renovation work’ and £95,000 on ‘a landscape package’ in New Palace Yard to allow for new ‘turf, mulching and tree rings within the section of landscape.