This week's entry looks at the recently published review by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)
of the early programme preparation for HS2.
Early programme preparation covers a range of work that should
be carried out by any promoter of a major infrastructure project
long before the spades hit the ground, including route planning,
timetabling, cost benefit analyses and articulating the business
case.
On Monday 9 September 2013 the PAC published its review of the
early programme preparation for HS2.
The DfT and HS2 Limited must have been quietly dreading this.
The National Audit Office (NAO) report on the same subject back in
May was not complimentary and would have made uncomfortable reading
for the scheme's sponsors (see our blog entry number 3). And
that was without a contribution from Margaret Hodge (the Chair of
the PAC who has become well known recently for her robust
approach).
