HANSARDCommons28 Jun 20231 contribution

Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Holocaust Memorial: Forecast Cost

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Felicity Buchan)
ConservativeKensington
On 23 February, the Holocaust Memorial Bill had its First Reading in the House of Commons. Subject to Parliament’s approval of the Bill, and subject also to the granting of planning consent, the Government will proceed to construct a fitting memorial to the 6 million Jewish men, women and children murdered in the holocaust and all other victims of the Nazis and their collaborators.
Ahead of Second Reading of the Bill, I wish to update the House on the forecast costs for completion of the proposed holocaust memorial. Delays to the programme arising from the High Court challenge, together with the effects of construction price inflation, mean that forecast costs have increased since the estimates made in July 2021. Our current estimate of total costs to completion (excluding contingency) is set out in the table below. We expect that charitable donations will cover at least £25 million of these costs.
The memorial at Victoria Tower Gardens will help the whole nation to reflect on the importance of the holocaust and the lessons it holds for us today.
Spend and forecast (excluding contingency)
Previous Forecast
Current Forecast
Mar-22
Mar-23
Figures in £m incl. VAT.
Numbers may not sum due to rounding.
Forecast¹
Forecast²
Client³
9.6
14.3
Design⁴
11.2
11.9
Exhibition and content development⁵
14.8
15.9
Construction⁶
62.3
91.3
Mobilisation⁷
3.6
4.0
Planning inquiry
1.4
1.4
Grand total
102.9
138.8
Notes
¹March 2022 forecast as published by the NAO in their report “Investigation into the management of the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre Report” dated 5 July 2022.
² Includes the inflationary impact of delays using the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) November 2022 CPI forecast (except for the construction and exhibition elements against which sector specific inflation estimates have been applied as advised by the programme’s consultants).
³ Programme team and other programme costs: staff and contractors, rent, business case development, fundraising research, digital storage, communications, legal advice, community engagement, early programme expenditure (technical scoping reports, design competition). The key driver of the cost change is staff costs, primarily resulting from programme delays.
⁴ Up to FBC the key drivers of cost changes were refinement of plans and the costs of the planning inquiry. Since FBC the key driver is inflation followed by additional expenditure related to changing external cost managers.

Holocaust Memorial: Forecast Cost

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Felicity Buchan)

On 23 February, the Holocaust Memorial Bill had its First Reading in the House of Commons. Subject to Parliament’s approval of the Bill, and subject also to the granting of planning consent, the Government will proceed to construct a fitting memorial to the 6 million Jewish men, women and children murdered in the holocaust and all other victims of the Nazis and their collaborators.

Ahead of Second Reading of the Bill, I wish to update the House on the forecast costs for completion of the proposed holocaust memorial. Delays to the programme arising from the High Court challenge, together with the effects of construction price inflation, mean that forecast costs have increased since the estimates made in July 2021. Our current estimate of total costs to completion (excluding contingency) is set out in the table below. We expect that charitable donations will cover at least £25 million of these costs.

The memorial at Victoria Tower Gardens will help the whole nation to reflect on the importance of the holocaust and the lessons it holds for us today.

Spend and forecast (excluding contingency)

Previous Forecast

Current Forecast

Mar-22

Mar-23

Figures in £m incl. VAT.

Numbers may not sum due to rounding.

Forecast¹

Forecast²

Client³

9.6

14.3

Design⁴

11.2

11.9

Exhibition and content development⁵

14.8

15.9

Construction⁶

62.3

91.3

Mobilisation⁷

3.6

4.0

Planning inquiry

1.4

Grand total

102.9

138.8

Notes

¹March 2022 forecast as published by the NAO in their report “Investigation into the management of the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre Report” dated 5 July 2022.

² Includes the inflationary impact of delays using the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) November 2022 CPI forecast (except for the construction and exhibition elements against which sector specific inflation estimates have been applied as advised by the programme’s consultants).

³ Programme team and other programme costs: staff and contractors, rent, business case development, fundraising research, digital storage, communications, legal advice, community engagement, early programme expenditure (technical scoping reports, design competition). The key driver of the cost change is staff costs, primarily resulting from programme delays.

⁴ Up to FBC the key drivers of cost changes were refinement of plans and the costs of the planning inquiry. Since FBC the key driver is inflation followed by additional expenditure related to changing external cost managers.