A letter from a senior Department for Transport (DfT) official has revealed London’s garden bridge will cost £50m even if it fails to go ahead.
The letter, sent on 24 May by the permanent secretary of the DfT, Philip Rutnam, to then transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin, stated that £50.5m will be wasted. This will either be because it has already been spent or will need to be paid in cancellation costs, even if no construction work actually takes place.
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The National Audit Office last week warned that £22.5m of taxpayer money was at risk of being lost if the project was cancelled.
However, Rutnam, the DfT’s accounting officer, reveals that cancellation costs to the public sector of up to £15m, combined with “sunk costs of around £13.5m committed by DfT and £22m by Tfl”, mean that more than £50m will be lost if the bridge fails to go ahead.
He also reveals that he has long had serious concerns about the scheme’s viability: “After examining the business case for the project in summer 2014, my judgment was that the transport benefits of the project were limited and came with a relatively high level of risk to value for money.”
The controversial £175m proposed footbridge, linking Temple with the South Bank has already received £30m of government funds despite transport department officials warning the project represented poor value for money.
In the letter sent 24 May, Rutnam raises “reservations” over the project and cites “a number of significant risks to the delivery of the project.”
Rutnam, the DfT’s accounting officer, reveals that cancellation costs to the public sector of up to £15m combined with “sunk costs of around £13.5m committed by DfT and £22m by Tfl” mean that more than £50m will be lost if the bridge fails to go ahead.
He also reveals that he has long had serious concerns about the scheme’s viability: “After examining the business case for the project in summer 2014, my judgment was that the transport benefits of the project were limited and came with a relatively high level of risk to value for money.”
Rutnam is the latest person to criticise the project, whose opponents claim that a funding gap exists between the bridge’s estimated costs and the level of private investment in the project.
Another major obstacle recently revealed in the NAO report is that the Garden Bridge Trust has still to officially acquire the land needed on the South Bank for the project.
Current London Mayor Sadiq Khan remains publicly committed to the project, but has been clear that no more taxpayer money should be spent on the bridge and has ordered a review of the bridge’s funding.
