Influential committee of MPs says there is ‘considerable uncertainty’ over the likely delivery of the £45bn Northern Powerhouse Rail with particular concerns over the Liverpool to Manchester high-speed link. Tony McDonough reports
A scathing report from MPs on the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) casts doubt over the multi-billion pound Liverpool to Manchester high-speed rail link.
In a new report, the PAC warns “it is not confident” that the Department for Transport (DfT) has learned all the lessons from its past failures in its management of other rail projects such as HS2.
Projected to cost £45bn, Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) is to be delivered in three phases with improvements to existing lines between Sheffield and Leeds, Leeds and York, and Leeds and Bradford coming first.
A new high-speed line connecting Liverpool to Manchester city centre, via Manchester Airport, would come in a later phase and would not be delivered until the mid-2040s.
In January Liverpool city region Mayor Steve Rotheram, who is also linking the project to a £5bn regeneration plan focused on Liverpool Central Station, welcomed the Government’s renewed commitment to NPR.
However, a look at the detail, or what little detail there is so far, revealed Government “backing” for NPR may not be as solid as it first appears. Whitehall has capped spending on the project at £45bn, with possible extra contribution coming from local government.
What is more concerning is that ministers have not announced a firm budget or committed funds beyond 2029. The only definite funding commitment so far is £1.1bn for “design and preparation”. There is no actual delivery until 2045.
And this week the PAC has added to the uncertainty over the plan. It says the entire NPR programme, first conceived by then Chancellor George Osborne 12 years ago, needs stronger governance, tighter cost control, and a credible delivery plan.
Its report illustrates the “considerable uncertainty” still clouding the project, with journey times, frequency, capacity, the exact route of the new line, who will build these new lines, and how investment in urban and industrial regeneration will be prioritised, all not yet determined.
It also questioned why the DfT had appointed HS2 Ltd to develop plans for the line from Liverpool to Manchester, given its track record of poor cost estimation. The report calls on Government to explain how it will make sure HS2 Ltd plans and cost estimates for phase two are realistic.
It said: “The PAC considers HS2 Ltd’s involvement heightens the serious risk posed to the final phase of NPR (needed for the full connectivity and benefits) if DfT cannot scope NPR within its £45bn funding cap, or if early cost estimates prove unrealistic.”
It also found that the DfT had “no convincing plan” for managing spending or prioritising benefits to remain within the cap of £45bn, and is further concerned that areas less able to self-fund or attract private investment will be left behind.
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Labour MP Clive Betts, deputy chair of the PAC, said: “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, 12 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.”