The Times - UK (2020-10-14)

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24 1GM Wednesday October 14 2020 | the times


News


HS2 is running £800 million over


budget six months after the project was


“comprehensively reset” by the prime


minister.


A government report warned of new


“cost pressures” caused in part by the


hugely complex programme to clear


land between London and Birmingham


to make way for the first phase of the


high-speed line.


It said that significant challenges had


been encountered along the 140-mile


route, including the need to remove


more asbestos from buildings than


previously thought. Additional compli-


cations on the design of HS2’s southern


terminus at Euston have also driven up


anticipated costs, it emerged.


The Department for Transport (DfT)


warned of potential delays to the


project, pointing to the impact of


coronavirus and the late completion of


preparatory work by contractors.


The conclusions are made in the first


of a series of biannual reports into the


progress of Europe’s biggest infrastruc-


ture project, after it was given the green


light by Boris Johnson in February.


The DfT insisted that it expected


HS2 to be delivered on budget without


the need to increase the £4.3 billion


contingency fund already set aside.


Nevertheless, the latest disclosure is


likely to sound alarm bells so soon after


the prime minister pledged to tighten


controls over HS2, which has been dog-


ged by criticism over costs and environ-


mental damage for years.


The high-speed line involves the


construction of a new Y-shaped


225mph rail network that will potent-


ially connect London, Birmingham,


Manchester and Leeds. It is intended to


halve journey times between big cities


and significantly increase capacity on


the national rail network, allowing


more freight to be carried by train.


In February, the government finally


endorsed the project, declaring that it


was being “comprehensively reset”. The


TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JACK HILL

HS2 is £800m


over budget


despite ‘reset’


overall budget, previously £56 billion,
has now been set to between £72 billion
and £98 billion, with the northern leg
beyond Birmingham subject to a
further review.
It was announced that updates on
HS2’s progress would be delivered to
parliament every six months.
Andrew Stephenson, the transport
minister with special responsibility for
HS2, published the first report covering
the period up to the end of August.
It said that phase one from London to
Birmingham has a budget of £40.3 bil-
lion, with a further £4.3 billion for con-
tingencies, unforeseen additional costs.
The report said £9.6 billion has been
spent to date — almost a quarter of the
total — while contracts worth a further
£11.5 billion have been signed. However,
it said that HS2 Ltd, the government-
owned company, was “reporting cost
pressures of £0.8 billion”. “If not
successfully remediated, these pres-
sures will be drawn against the com-
pany’s delegated contingency,” it said.
Preparatory work on phase one,
including demolishing buildings and
clearing land, started in 2017 and last
month HS2 declared the beginning of
full construction of the line.
Mr Stephenson said: “I am deter-
mined to carefully scrutinise the use of
contingency to ensure that it is suffi-
cient to cover issues that may emerge
later in the project.”
The report also warned of potential
new delays. The first phase is expected
to be complete between 2029 and 2033.
Its original target was 2026. It said that
HS2 Ltd believed it would “provide
services within this range”.
A DfT spokesman said: “While the
project has faced some cost pressures in
carrying out preparatory works, the
government still expects HS2 Ltd to
deliver phase one at the target cost of
£40.3 billion. This government remains
relentlessly focused on controlling
costs, to ensure this ambitious new
railway delivers its wealth of benefits at
value for money for the taxpayer.”

Graeme Paton Transport Correspondent


Protect us from Netflix, says ITV chief


Matthew Moore Media Correspondent


Public service broadcasters may cease
to exist in their present form unless
they are given the best slots on smart
TV menus, says the head of ITV.
Dame Carolyn McCall wants the
government to intervene to prevent
wealthy US streaming services such as
Netflix monopolising British televi-
sions. The public service broadcasters
— BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5
— are guaranteed the top five channels
in return for meeting certain obliga-
tions, such as running local news and

investing in UK productions. Many
viewers ignore TV schedules, prefer-
ring to stream shows on-demand, often
through internet-connected TVs.
The public service broadcasters want
legislation updated to force manufac-
turers to give ITV Hub, iPlayer, All4
and My5 prime positions on these
menus. At present manufacturers sell
the most visible “tiles” on their home
pages to the highest bidder.
Dame Carolyn told the Royal
Television Society Digital Convention:
“If this continues, I don’t think the
public-sector broadcasters will exist in

the shape they are in today. They won’t
be able to thrive.” She added that the
prominence rules, enshrined in the
Communications Act 2003, were de-
vised when public-service broadcasters
dominated UK television viewing, and
that is no longer the case.
Last year Ofcom recommended that
ministers modernise the prominence
regime to make it easier for viewers to
find public-service content. It is expect-
ed to publish updated proposals before
publication of a review of public service
broadcasting by the Department for
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Blue velvet The Vienna-born artist Maria Verelst’s 1723 portrait of Anne Blackett is on display at the Philip Mould gallery in
central London as part of his exhibition Pioneers: 500 years of Women in British Art. The show runs until November 27
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