{"id":530773,"date":"2025-10-15T00:01:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T23:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=530773"},"modified":"2025-10-15T09:03:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T08:03:24","slug":"pac-chair-urges-government-to-learn-from-hs2-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/civils\/hs2\/pac-chair-urges-government-to-learn-from-hs2-disaster-15-10-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"PAC chair urges government to learn from HS2 ‘disaster’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The head of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has branded the HS2 rail megaproject a \u201cdisaster\u201d and described ongoing uncertainty over its cost as \u201cunacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a report released this morning (15 October), Geoffrey Clifton-Brown added that the government \u201cmust learn\u201d from the troubled programme.<\/p>\n

The then coalition government approved construction of HS2 in 2012, when it was expected to cost \u00a333bn. Since then, the Manchester and Leeds legs of the scheme have been scrapped, yet even the cost of the heavily truncated project – now only running from London to Birmingham – is forecast to exceed its original estimate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Labour government last year brought in former Crossrail chief Mark Wild to lead the delivery body, HS2 Ltd. It also added extra ministerial controls after warning last October of the \u201cdire\u201d state of delivery to that point<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wild earlier this year began a comprehensive reset<\/a> of the programme after noting in March that HS2 Ltd had \u201cfailed in its mission to control costs and deliver to schedule\u201d.<\/p>\n

Clifton-Brown, the Conservative MP for North Cotswolds, used his first annual report as chair of the PAC to reflect on the project, which he said could now cost \u201cclose to \u00a380bn when the Euston to Birmingham route is completed\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe are no more certain of the government\u2019s ability to successfully deliver this vast programme than we were a decade ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unacceptable that the final cost, scope, completion date and benefits of this now 13-year-long project are still unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n

The PAC chair said that government departments needed the skills to challenge information presented to them by other bodies.<\/p>\n

He noted that the committee had previously warned of a \u201clack of skills\u201d within the Department for Transport (DfT) and HS2 Ltd, particularly in the key areas of risk management and assurance, project management and project controls.<\/p>\n

\u201cHS2 Ltd has brought in new leadership in the form of Mark Wild, who brings experience from delivering Crossrail,\u201d Clifton-Brown said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the department itself must consider how its own gaps in skills, capabilities and leadership will be addressed so that it is able to effectively challenge any assumptions and projections made by HS2 Ltd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in his report, Clifton-Brown said the PAC had seen \u201cfar too many major government projects spiral out of control due to shortcomings in financial oversight and management as well as a lack of appropriate skills and capability from departments\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cGovernment also has a poor record when it comes to rolling out major projects involving first-of-a-kind technology, such as projects related to achieving net zero ambitions.<\/p>\n

The PAC chair welcomed the government\u2019s acceptance of recommendations in a recent Office for Value for Money report on mega projects as well as the creation of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority.<\/p>\n

But he warned that an estimated 28 per cent of central government systems were described as legacy technology, saying this was \u201cextremely problematic\u201d for adoption of AI across Whitehall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remain unconvinced that government is geared up to harness the benefits of increasing digitalisation at the speed with which it is evolving,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The DfT, the Cabinet Office and HS2 Ltd have been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The head of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has branded the HS2 rail megaproject a \u201cdisaster\u201d and described ongoing uncertainty over its cost as \u201cunacceptable\u201d. In a report released this morning (15 October), Geoffrey Clifton-Brown added that the government \u201cmust learn\u201d from the troubled programme. The then coalition government approved construction of HS2 in 2012, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87938,"featured_media":474292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[549,39314],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-530773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-civils","category-hs2"],"yoast_head":"\nPAC chair urges government to learn from HS2 'disaster' | Construction News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The head of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has branded the HS2 rail megaproject a \u201cdisaster\u201d and described ongoing uncertainty over its cost as\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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