Government too involved in HS2, warns top infrastructure adviser
Too much government involvement in HS2 has hampered delivery and fuelled massive cost overruns and delays, according to a key infrastructure adviser.
Sir John Armitt, chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, told MPs he had “never been convinced by the governance structure of HS2,” having been influenced by his own experience delivering the infrastructure for the 2012 Olympic Games.
The Olympic Delivery Authority operated as a standalone body when Armitt served as chair, with “our own ability to hire and fire, with our own ability to get on and be given significant delegated powers.”
HS2 Ltd currently oversees the embattled high speed rail project, acting as an arms-length company funded by grant-in-aid from the government.
It was reported in September the body could come under direct state control following a review into governance and accountability.
‘Transport is an intensely political area’
“I think the retention of HS2 Ltd within the Department for Transport (DfT) can lead to too much oversight quite frankly,” Armitt told the Commons Transport Committee on Wednesday, in apparent contradiction of the current direction of travel.
“Transport is an intensely political area and I can understand it being very difficult for ministers to stand back when they are the ones who, at the end of the day, have to stand up here and defend what’s happening, so the close they can get to the detail the better,” he said.
But on the other hand that is “bound to lead to delays, it’s bound to lead I fear to too much desire to actually meet every concern and objection and requirement for extra facilities within a scheme.”
HS2 has had to make some 12,000 local agreements following the hybrid bill and Armitt described the negotiations as “endless.”
“There is of course then the risk that in order to make progress, you say okay. And every time you say okay, thats potentially more delay and certainly more cost.”
“There is a desire to actually please people, rather than a private sector approach which says I have not got any more money, that is all we can afford. And I think government is not very good at saying that.”
A DfT spokesperson said: “We have acted swiftly to put urgent measures in place to bring the cost and delivery of HS2 back under control.
“This includes tasking the new Chief Executive to assess the current cost and timeline, and to provide an action plan to deliver HS2 at the lowest reasonable cost.”