§ Mr. GardinerTo ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee if he will break down the total costs of refurbishing the Grand Committee Room into those costs which would have been incurred anyway as part of the planned programme of refurbishment, and those which arise specifically from the use of the Grand Committee Room for Westminster Hall sittings. [98551]
§ Sir Sydney ChapmanThe total cost of £882,000 for the refurbishment of the Grand Committee Room includes within it £670,000 (at current prices) which had already been included in the 10 year rolling programme for Parliamentary works over the period 2002–06 prior to the House approving the Report from the Modernisation Committee which recommended using the room for Westminster Hall Sittings.
This latter amount covers works such as building services, replacement of fan coils, internal stone cleaning, cabling for the Parliamentary Data and Video Network, automatic fire detection and rewiring.