Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body
The right hon. Member for East Hampshire, representing the
Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body, was asked—
Restoration and
Renewal: Procurement Opportunities
(Hastings and
Rye) (Con)
What assessment that body has made of the procurement
opportunities for businesses in Hastings and Rye constituency as
part of the restoration and renewal programme.
(East Hampshire)
Restoring Parliament will benefit businesses in the UK, using UK
materials wherever possible and creating jobs and apprenticeships
nationwide—including, I hope, in my hon. Friend’s constituency—in
fields from engineering and high-tech design to traditional
crafts such as carpentry and stonemasonry.
The restoration and renewal programme will cost billions, but at
the same time it will employ thousands of British people. The
Sponsor Body is required to procure and manage the contractors
and supply chain. Does my right hon. Friend agree that, in doing
so, it can help towards delivering the Government’s levelling-up
agenda by ensuring that businesses, contractors and so on from
our more deprived socioeconomic areas across the UK have real
equality of opportunity to access the variety of employment
opportunities afforded by the programme?
Absolutely; my hon. Friend is quite right. The programme is
currently developing its supply chain plans to help to ensure
that the benefits of the programme are felt across the country.
There is also an innovative loan scheme for apprentices to be
employed by the programme and then loaned to businesses working
on the restoration, and dozens of young people from more
disadvantaged areas will be offered paid internships and
placements in a partnership with the Social Mobility Foundation.
