The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has released a report warning that the follies of HS2 may well be on course for repetition in Northern Powerhouse Rail
The Department for Transport (DfT) may not be learning lessons from HS2 at all when approaching Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), says the PAC.
In a new report released today, they highlight risks that the full benefits of the programme cannot be delivered within the £45bn funding cap without intervention.
A decade of planning with few results
A large part of the PAC’s report is the fact that NPR has been in the planning stage for more than 12 years, and yet is still in an early stage, suggesting a lot of uncertainty and questioning if the project can bring any real benefits.
The idea driving NPR is to improve transport links between Northern cities, which have long been considered to be inadequate and stunting proper growth for people and businesses in what is a huge part of the country.
However, with the current clouded state of the plan, including the nature of the benefits to journey times, frequency, and capacity, as well as unclear route lines, delivery partners, and investment plans for local areas, the project may be derailed from the beginning.
HS2 is highlighted for the myriad failures previously reported on, and many of which are set to be repeated, including a lack of formal governance from DfT for making joint decisions with other departments. HS2 Ltd. was also appointed to develop the plans for the line from Liverpool to Manchester; something the PAC has questioned due to the poor track record of cost estimation from HS2.
“Feels like putting a roof on a house before the foundations are even laid”
The PAC report concludes that the DfT has no convincing plan for the management, spending, or prioritisation of the project, and with a cap of £45bn already being put in place, concerns over premature funding are high.
Clive Betts MP, deputy chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said: “The government’s growth strategy earlier this year signalled that there is still an appetite to finally deliver the transport infrastructure the North so badly needs. But the spectre of HS2 hangs over Northern Powerhouse Rail.
“Our Committee has heard troubling echoes of the same mistakes in loose governance that HS2 made early on, and so much of the project remains almost impressionistic, twelve years on. HS2 have even been brought on board to develop NPR’s own plans. As HS2 has been a casebook example of how not to run a major project, so their involvement in NPR does not fill us with confidence.
“Both the Treasury and DfT have questions to answer about the project’s £45bn funding cap. Given the fact that this project has not been fully scoped or designed, it is hard to see how the government was able to arrive at a hard £45bn cap.
“We have therefore written to the acting accounting officer asking that question. We need to know how this figure was arrived at and how DfT will keep to it. Capping a project’s funding before it was even designed or costed feels like putting a roof on a house before the foundations are even laid. We also need to understand how mayoral authorities will have enough scrutiny for this project to be delivered successfully.
“Northern towns and cities desperately need better connectivity, and the growth that it will provide; what they and this Committee need right now, is a clear and deliverable plan to achieve that.”
Read the PAC report in full here.
Andy Burnham, widely expected to be the next prime minister, has previously backed Northern Powerhouse Rail.
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