MPs spent nearly £100,000 on a temporary bonging mechanism for Big Ben so the bell could be sounded less than a dozen times during renovations, The Independent has learned.
The striking mechanism, which was used on just 10 occasions at a cost of around £10,000 per bonging, was commissioned because MPs wanted the bell to ring at New Year and for Remembrance commemorations.
The cost included “commissioning, out of hours attendance, set up and testing of the temporary mechanism”, with the bill running to a total of £96,000.
The Elizabeth Tower, the official name for parliament’s clock tower which includes Big Ben, has been under renovation since 2017 and covered in scaffolding.
The refurbishment programme, the most extensive in the tower’s history, is expected to be completed this year, with scaffolding already being removed from the building.
“The approximate cost of commissioning, out of hours attendance, set up and testing of the temporary mechanism for all the occasions during the project when Big Ben has sounded is £96,000,” said Charles Walker, a senior Conservative MP who sits on the House of Commons Commission, in response to a written parliamentary question.
“The overall contract value for the project includes all the costs of initial commissioning of the temporary mechanism used for this purpose and testing and operating it on each occasion it has been used since the project started in 2017.
“The mechanism was used on 10 occasions, with Big Ben also being sounded several times in the run-up to each New Year’s Eve, as well as for testing in advance of each occasion that was marked.”
Sir Charles said that arrangements were striking Big Ben “were coordinated round the planned works so as to minimise the impact on the project costs and to ensure there was no delay to the project”.
He added that the temporary striking mechanism would be kept as a “contingency arrangement” to act as a backup in case something should go wrong with the main striking mechanism in future.
The decision to build a temporary striking mechanism was taken in 2017 by the House of Commons Commission, which also cited that Big Ben needed to sound on Remembrance Sunday, Armistice Day and New Year’s Eve during the renovation project, even though the striking mechanism had been removed for refurbishment.
The Commission reconfirmed the decision 2018, despite a campaign by some newspapers and politicians that Big Ben should “bong for Brexit” when Britain left the EU. However, the occasions were restricted “to allow the project team to schedule works around those occasions”.
A House of Commons spokesperson said: “The temporary striking mechanism has been specially designed to ensure it fits within the unique constraints of the Elizabeth Tower, powering the hammer to strike Big Ben in the precise way needed to create its authentic sound.
“Use of the mechanism on pre-planned occasions during the works represents significantly better value for money, compared to striking Big Ben on an ad-hoc basis at short notice. The cost of the mechanism is included within the overall budget for the Elizabeth Tower project. It will be retained by parliament as a back-up striking mechanism for the future.”
