HS2: Transport department defends top civil servant over transparency row
The Department for Transport (DfT) has denied its top civil servant broke the civil service code of conduct as she faces accusations she withheld information on HS2’s budget blowouts.
City PM reported earlier this month that DfT permanent secretary Bernadette Kelly admitted she did not tell parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) she knew HS2 was likely to go over budget.
The top mandarin found out in March 2019 that the high speed rail project would likely go over its £55.7bn budget, but did not tell the committee at a May 2019 session.
When confronted with this information by the committee, Kelly said she had been “quite careful” with her words at the previous appearance and that she wasn’t obliged to tell the committee about any internal cost estimates.
PAC chair Meg Hillier told the Sunday Telegraph today that Kelly had “sailed close to the wind” and almost broke the civil service code of conduct.
A DfT spokesperson told City PM today that Kelly had done nothing wrong and that the department was developing strategies during the period in question to stick to the official budget.
They added: “The permanent secretary has acted fully in accordance with the Civil Service Code at all times.”
HS2 – which will link London, Leeds, Crewe and Manchester – is now expected to cost more than £100bn to build.