As we race towards July’s general election, the different parties’ stances on government spending will be under close scrutiny – particularly after the National Audit Office (NAO) stated in January that “government can achieve more with what it already spends”.

Gareth Davies, Comptroller & Auditor General at the NAO, explained in his annual speech that billions of pounds were being wasted on poorly run projects and crumbling infrastructure that has been insufficiently maintained. So, which projects is Davies referring to?

The scaling back of HS2

Davies recommended that the next government improves the management of large-scale projects, as many have become too big for project managers to cope with. HS2 is a prime example of this; initially announced in 2013, the high-speed railway was intended to connect the north and south of England. However, last October, Rishi Sunak announced that the northern leg of HS2 would be scrapped due to scheduling and budget issues. The route will therefore now only run from London to Handsacre and Birmingham.

When Ground Engineering surveyed some professionals involved in the project, 22.5% of respondents said that the main challenges on HS2 were strategy, governance and procurement models.  Some engineers have said it was badly planned from the outset; managing director of AGD Equipment, Robert Law, believes the project could have been more successful if it was not on a cost-plus basis. Under this approach, contractors are reimbursed for all costs involved in the project, then paid an additional percentage profit. While this means that contractors aren’t at risk of having to foot the bill for any expenses incurred, some argue that there is no incentive for them to finish the work swiftly.

The New Hospital Programme

In 2020, Boris Johnson’s government promised to build 40 new hospitals in England by 2030, but a number of these have now been delayed. For example, a replacement hospital for Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow was initially scheduled for 2024. However, it was reported in May that the £400m project may not be ready until 2032 because the land has still not been bought. While they await a new build schedule from the Department of Health, Princess Alexandra is experiencing problems with its current building – in March, a ceiling in ICU caved in above a patient, and 40 sewage leaks were recorded in 2022.

They are not the only hospital to experience problems with their current infrastructure. Flooding caused the A&E department of Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone to close in July 2021, leading to operations being cancelled. Circumstances such as this prompted the NAO to call for better ongoing maintenance of public buildings to avoid issues with backlogs and costly emergency repairs.

A more realistic approach

Considering the revisions that have been made to the initial plans for both HS2 and the New Hospital Programme, it seems that a more realistic approach towards large-scale projects is needed. We have reached a point where money is being spent on both old hospitals and the new buildings that will replace them. If the government had aimed for fewer new hospitals in the first place, would we be in a better position? It certainly seems that a smarter approach could have saved significant sums of money.