From Private Eye……
FEARS GROW OVER HS2 OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
by our correspondent Brad Money-Pitt
There were growing concerns today that the HS2 oversight committee set up by new Transport Secretary Louise Haigh to ensure that the latest stage of HS2 delivers value for money for taxpayers could report late and go wildly over budget.
Insiders warn that the committee, which had been budgeted at £8m and scheduled to deliver its report in March 2025, and is headed by James Stewart, former Chair of Infrastructure at KMPG, may now cost as much as £4bn and not report until 2029 at the earliest.
Said one insider, “ The project is beset by internal wranglings and unforeseen cost overruns, such as securing expensive HS2 office space in Euston which costs a fortune apparently”.
The Tories have called on the Labour government to scrap the HS2 oversight committee, branding it an expensive white elephant, but Labour said they would be putting an HS2 oversight oversight committee in place to ensure that the HS2 oversight committee provides the taxpayers with value for money.
