Background to the report

Buckingham Palace (the Palace) is a Grade I listed building of international standing and is the official residence of The Sovereign. It was built and updated in stages between the early 18th century and the mid-20th century.

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Since 2017, the Royal Household (the Household) has been undertaking the 10-year Buckingham Palace Reservicing programme (the programme) to update the plumbing, pipes, wires and heating, some of which date from the 1940s and 1950s.

The overall objective of the programme is to mitigate the real risk of operational failure within the Palace through reservicing to deliver an enduring building infrastructure with a life expectancy of 50 years.

Scope of the report

Our report examines the Royal Household’s progress in delivering the Buckingham Palace Reservicing programme. It considers whether:

  • the programme is set up for success
  • progress to date and how effectively the programme team has navigated delivery challenges
  • how effectively the Household is managing risk to the end of the programme and the delivery of benefits.

This report does not seek to comment on the merits of the decision on the option taken forward for the programme or the wider role of the Royal Household.

We make recommendations to the Household and highlight that further lessons could be drawn out for other heritage programmes.

Conclusions

The Household has managed the £369 million, 10-year Buckingham Palace Reservicing programme well and has demonstrated good practice in a number of areas. It had clear objectives and a budget that reflected the risk of undertaking a heritage programme.

There has been a strong focus on keeping within the budget, and the Household has managed this so far despite challenges, by making trade-offs, actively managing risks and learning lessons.

The Household has worked hard to engage stakeholders within the Palace and through the supply chain, and the Palace has remained operational throughout. The Household has responded well to challenge and assurance, fostering a culture of honesty.

While risks remain to the overall value for money of the programme, particularly given the backloading of work on to the last two years and the limited remaining unallocated contingency, if the Household continues to manage risks effectively, its approach to the programme should set it up to deliver good value for money.

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Publication details

Press release

View press release (23 Jul 2024)

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