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• Wed Oct 15 2025

Morse closes case on ?9.6m House of Lords door

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A report into the construction of a new ?9.6m entrance to the House of Lords has identified the errors which led to delays and spiralling costs. In his 15-page review, Lord Morse concluded that a decision to limit building work to times when the House of Lords was not sitting was key factor in the delays. He also said the project had been further postponed by the death of Queen Elizabeth and the subsequent coronation of King Charles, during which time work could not be carried out. The process to upgrade the entrance began in 2023 and had been expected to take 39 weeks at a cost of ?6.1m. However, it ended up being delayed by 100 weeks and costs rose by more than ?3m.

In July, following complaints by peers in the House of Lords, the Lord Speaker asked Lord Morse, a former auditor of government projects, to investigate the reasons behind the delay. In his report, Lord Morse said that in February 2022 the cost of the project had been calculated based on the assumption that building work would "proceed continuously from start to finish" and that the entrance would be closed for use. However, the costs were pushed up when, in October 2022, a decision was made that the entrance should be kept open "at all times" when the House of Lords was sitting. Lord Morse said the original assumption about the entrance "proved incorrect and materially increased the cost of delivery". He said additional costs included a redesign, which had to take place when ground surveys revealed "unknown voids" beneath the foundations of the entrance. In September 2022 the project was disrupted following the death of Queen Elizabeth and her subsequent lying-in-state, which took place in Westminster Hall on the parliamentary estate. The construction site was dismantled and work was paused for two weeks. Lord Morse said such disruptions "might reasonably have been anticipated" but were "not directly attributable to the way in which the project was managed". He said the decision to limit major construction to times when Parliament was not sitting had the largest impact on the delays.