Procurement launched for £7.5m contract to provide planning law advice for Parliamentary estate
A procurement exercise has been launched to appoint a single supplier to a contract worth an estimated £7.5m over four years to provide planning law advice on the Parliamentary estate.
The procurement is being run by the Corporate Officer of the House of Lords and the Corporate Officer of the House of Commons.
They said: “It is envisaged that the services will be ‘estate wide’ and promote a joined up, holistic approach to this specific area of law."
The successful supplier will support Parliament's strategic estates arm on major capital projects and capital maintenance works including the Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Programme and the Northern Estate Programme.
The services will include but not be limited to legal issues in relation to:
- town and planning procedures;
- highways procedures (including procedures for stopping up of highways and traffic regulation orders);
- heritage issues including conservation areas, listed buildings and world heritage site issues;
- environmental impact assessment including screening and scoping;
- community infrastructure levy;
- compulsory purchase and compensation;
- planning appeals and call-in;
- judicial review and other legal challenges;
- development plan representations;
- neighbourhood planning;
- access to information including application of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations 2004 in liaison with and with the approval of the Office of Speaker’s Counsel and the Counsel to the Chairman of Committees; and
- other strategic advice as may be required by the Authority.”
Established in June 2016, Parliament’s strategic estates arm delivers capital investment in the parliamentary estate. Comprising more than 30 buildings, 7% of the estate is listed and two buildings are Grade I listed: The Palace of Westminster; Norman Shaw North.