Since the cancellation of HS2’s northern leg, the project has been in total disarray, the public accounts committee has determined.
“The failure of the High Speed 2 (HS2) programme, one of our most important public sector projects, is now a reputational risk to the UK,” it says.
Thirteen years after the railway project was given the go-ahead and six years into construction, we still do not know what it will cost or even what the final scope will be. Billions of pounds have been wasted, the MPs say.
The public accounts committee (PAC) has today published its report updating its long-running scrutiny of the project, following the cancellation of the northern leg. The report urges the government to lay out to the public what value taxpayers can now expect from the project.
The PAC’s inquiry was told by the Department for Transport (DfT) and HS2 Ltd that the programme would now undergo a ‘fundamental reset’, following a similar reset less than five years ago. The PAC is seeking details from government of how oversight of the programme will be improved, given that neither DfT nor HS2 Ltd have the skills or capabilities to make a success of the programme, the MPs say.
The report notes past findings of gaps at the DfT in key areas such as risk management and assurance, project management and project controls. The PAC is not convinced that DfT has sufficiently considered how it can bring fresh thinking to its own leadership of HS2, or whether it has the right skills and capabilities in place to lead the programme effectively and credibly.
The PAC’s inquiry found that very little progress has been made on addressing the needs of those affected by the purchase of land and property as part of the programme. People who previously owned property that is no longer needed, who may welcome the opportunity to buy it back, have been waiting for years, and are still waiting, for answers. The report calls for people’s cases to be addressed sympathetically and rapidly, particularly where this was someone’s home.
The report also specifically picks out Euston Station, and HS2’s ‘bat tunnel’, as elements of concern. It finds that the £100m cost of the 1km bat tunnel, which did not strike the right balance between protecting wildlife and the burden on the taxpayer, more than doubled the cost of that section of railway alone. On Euston, the government’s plans currently rest on the approximate £6bn cost being significantly underpinned by the private sector. There is no clear plan for this, and the PAC is sceptical the private sector will come forward to the level required. In the meantime, local businesses, residents and passengers will continue to face significant disruption at Euston for many years to come.
The government and HS2 Ltd’s inability to agree with each other on how much the programme will cost illu