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Buildings and maintenance

This topic includes information published by the House of Commons, including responses to past FOI requests, relating to buildings and maintenance.

Item Description
Big Ben and the Elizabeth Tower Guide Book An official guide to Big Ben and the Elizabeth Tower. Fee charged. Only available in hard copy.
Costs of Christmas trees and decorations Costs of Christmas trees and decorations displayed on the parliamentary estate.
Environmental FAQs - cost per unit of electricity and gas The average cost for each unit of gas and electricity supplied to the parliamentary estate, for recent financial years.
Environmental FAQs - energy costs for gas and electricity The total costs of gas and electricity supplied to the parliamentary estate, for recent financial years.
Environmental performance - targets and performance How Parliament intends to improve its environmental sustainability, and how it is performing against targets that have been set.
Environmental Policy Statement An outline of Parliament’s priority actions to deliver environmental sustainability.
Lost property on the Parliamentary estate Lists of items of lost property found on the parliamentary estate.
Palace of Westminster Guide Book An official guide to the Palace of Westminster. Fee charged. Only available in hard copy.
Pest control on the Parliamentary estate Information about pest control on the parliamentary estate, including sightings of pests and costs relating to pest control.

Responses to requests

Accommodation

File ref Nature of request Response date
F23-687 List of HoC division bells not on the parliamentary estate or in government buildings 22/01/2024
F23-504 Cost of new table and chairs installed in PCH in 2023 02/10/2023
F23-133 Hairdresser price list and services 20/03/2023
F23-074 Contract details for the parliamentary nursery 28/02/2023
F22-435 Copy of room booking log for Members 20/09/2022
F22-023 Details of HoC meeting room bookings 11/02/2022
F21-671 Room bookings made by APPG on Azerbaijan 18/01/2022
F22-001 Nursery running costs & usage 01/02/2022
F21-146 Expenses for purchase of flags 19/04/2021
F21-114 Complaints about odours, sewage and masonry on parl estate 06/04/2021
F21-577 Cost of Christmas decorations for HoC 21/12/2021
F21-575 Details of Christmas decorations purchased by Parliament 20/12/2021
F20-099 Furniture bought for atrium in Portcullis House 09/03/2020
F20-042 Details of heaters being removed from parliamentary offices 11/02/2020
F20-123 Bottles of santising hand wash acquired by the House 18/03/2020
  Office furniture 2020
F19-315 Division bells located outside Parliamentary estate 12/07/2019
F19-244 Bad smells reported on HoC premises 28/05/2019
F19-562 Attendance of children at HoC nursery 18/12/2019
F18-306 Cost of relocating the parliamentary gym 04/09/2018
F18-190 Carpets used in the Chamber 23/05/2018
F17-412 Sky Sports on House of Commons annunciators 26/10/2017
F17-269 Locations of division bells/annunciators 25/07/2017
  Christmas decorations 2017

Building safety

File ref Nature of request Response date
F24-256 Details of ventilation upgrades since 2019 and CO2 levels 29/05/2024
F24-148 Money spent on temporary work to make parliamentary estate safe over last 3 years 02/04/2024
F24-132 Instances of falling masonry or other external elements of the parliamentary estate recorded as being damaged in the last five years 13/03/2024
F24-005 Cost of pest control in parliament since 2021 29/01/2024
F23-608 Reports of rodents and cost of pest control since 2018 29/11/2023
F23-570 Pest control and catering reports 13/11/2023
F23-548 Details and costs associated with pest control 31/10/2023
F23-421 Details of falling masonry in PoW during 2022/23 29/08/2023
F23-277 Cost of pest control on parliamentary estate since 2018 13/06/2023
F23-187 Details of falling masonry 02/05/2023
F22-767 Pest control questions 11/01/2023
F23-077/F23-026 Asbestos 28/02/2023
  Pest control 2023
  Air filtration system 2023
  Air filtration system 2023
F23-028 Air Quality 01/02/2023
F23-078 Fires 01/03/2023
F23-018 Fire, floods, falling masonry 06/02/2023
F23-030 Falling masonry and compensation 25/01/2023
F22-112 Copies of fire logs since 2012 22/03/2022
F22-101 Annual cost and detections of pests on parl estate 16/03/2022
F22-015 Details of fires and fire watches in Parliament 07/02/2022
  Falling masonry 2022
F21-573 Breakdown on costs for pest control 21/12/2021
F21-568 Money spent by Parliament including on pest control  17/12/2021
F21-487 LPS and risk assessment results for Parliament 19/11/2021
F21-369 Falling masonry 06/09/2021
F21-255 Incidents of falling masonry and compensation paid 21/06/2021
F21-129 Costs, sightings and causing of pest issues on parliamentary estate 13/04/2021
F20-617 Details of pest control incidents in parliament 09/12/2020
F20-106 Details of fires on the parliamentary estate 18/03/2020
F20-081 Fire incidents in the House 19/02/2020
F19-580 Details of asbestos in Parliament 08/01/2020
F19-394 Incidents of falling debris at Palace of Westminster 18/09/2019
F19-345 Fires reported on the parliamentary estate 01/08/2019
F19-272 Reports of fallen masonry in Palace 20/06/2019
  Fires 2017

Clocks

File ref Nature of request Response date
F23-596 Estimated cost to change the clocks for daylight saving 15/11/2023
F23-221 Clocks 10/05/2023
  Bell chimes 2020
  Bell chimes 2020
  Clocks 2020
F19-290 Number of clocks and adjustment costs on the Parliamentary estate 01/07/2019
  Clocks 2017

Energy usage and costs

File ref Nature of request Response date
F23-454 Supplier and cost of gas and electricity to Parliament since 2019 11/09/2023
F22-783 Details of partial blackouts on parl estate 25/01/2023
F22-644 Cost of gas & electricity for Aug, Sept, Oct 2022 with unit prices 16/01/2023
F22-733 Cost of energy of parliamentary estate 10/01/2023
F22-293 Energy costs for Parliament and type of energy used 27/06/2022
  Energy provision 2022
  Energy costs 2022
  Energy contract/estimated costs 2022
F21-090 Number of powercuts in Parliament 23/03/2021
  Gas and Electricity 2019

Lost, stolen and found

File ref Nature of request Response date
  Lost and Stolen 2017

Maintenance and works

File ref Nature of request Response date
F24-083 Cost to provide safety netting in Portcullis House  28/02/2024
F23-628 Cost and locations of scaffolding used in Parliament over last year 19/12/2023
F23-598 Cases of damp and mould reported on parl estate in last 5 years and cost to rectify 27/11/2023
F23-365 Provision of maintenance to parliamentary estate 25/07/2023
F23-012 Refurbishment costs 06/02/2023
F23-150 Speaker's House costs 20/04/2023
F23-001 Maintenance of Sculptures 18/01/2023
F22-703 Details of maintenance to Westminster gym in 2020 14/12/2022
  Speaker's House maintenance 2022
  Westminster Hall scaffold sheeting costs 2022
F21-118 Outstanding areas of repair on the parliamentary estate 07/04/2021
F20-652 Cost to make HoC Covid-secure 11/01/2021
F20-478 Payments for work done to Speakers Accomodation since November 2019 09/11/2020
F20-308 Cost of renovations to Speakers apartments 29/07/2020
F20-103 Replacement of glass roof in PCH 11/03/2020
F20-098 Subcontractors working on the Big Ben Elizabeth Tower Development 04/03/2020
F19-541 Removal of encaustic tiles and donation to public institutions 18/12/2019
F19-441 Spending on Speaker's residence and copies of communication relating to this 07/10/2019
F18-527 Information on cleaning/maintance of key government buildings 21/01/2019
F18-268 List of third parties involved in refurbishment to Elizabeth Tower.  27/07/2018
F18-252 Subcontractors for Big Ben restoration and encaustic floor tiles work 23/07/2018
F18-219 List of contractors, subcontractors and suppliers involved in restoration of Palace of Westminster 21/06/2018
F18-160 Spending on Speakers residence and corresponding communications 14/05/2018
F18-183 Work carried out on Speaker's apartment in 2017 14/05/2018
F17-185 Spending on the Speaker's residence 03/05/2017
F17-015 Maintenance and furniture purchases for Speakers apartments 31/01/2017
F16-554 Programmes and building works on the parliamentary estate 18/01/2017
  Structure of Elizabeth Tower 2017

Plants and trees

File ref Nature of request Response date
F24-099 Contract for new trees in PCH 13/03/2024
F24-095 Cost and type of trees recently installed in PCH 05/03/2024
F24-094 Spending on new trees in PCH as well as the spend for last 10 years 13/03/2024
F24-093 Costs and assessments for new plants in PCH 05/03/2024
F21-130 Cost and maintenance of plants and trees on parliamentary estate 13/04/2021
F20-025 Information about Portcullis House atrium 29/01/2020
F18-041 Cost of trees in Portcullis House 28/02/2018

Waste and recycling

File ref Nature of request Response date
F23-047 Food waste in parliamentary catering facilities since 2018 and details of single use plastic items in 2022 15/02/2023
  Food waste 2022
  Food waste 2022
  Food wastage 2020
F19-378 Waste and recycling figures for 2018 and 2019 27/08/2019
  Food wastage 2019
  Food wastage 2019
  Waste management 2018
F17-157 Waste and recycling in the House of Commons 11/04/2017

Other

File ref Nature of request Response date
F23-193 Photos of the snuff box 21/04/2023
  Noise Levels 2017