Whitehall drafts in specialists from private sector to complete HS2 policies

SPECIAL consultants and industry experts are being drafted in by Whitehall mandarins to help complete key pieces of legislation such as the HS2 high speed rail project, reports have said.

According to The Times, around 100 experts from the private sector have been called in so their specialised knowledge can be utilised for drafting the key pieces of policy.

In its first phase the £50bn HS2 project will link London and Birmingham via 225mph trains. Work is due to start on the project in 2016 and the line is due to be operational by 2026. Fast train links to Leeds and Manchester will be built as phase two of the project which is due to complete in 2032.

A Bill relating to the scheme is currently going through Parliament and a second reading is expected next summer.

However, key policy details need to be ironed out before then. The legislative timetable is also quite tight despite the operational start being more than a decade away.

Landowners affected by the route of the railway have to lodge claims with the Government by the middle of January and delays in getting them submitted could impair payouts.

The newspaper said the private sector consultants would also be working on key Government policies such as Universal Credit and electronic tagging.

It claims their commercial know-how will help with the drafting of new contracts and bulk purchasing deals. There is a suggestion Whitehall has been forced into the move because it lacks the commercial skills necessary to design such important pieces of legislation.

The move will upset those eager to keep a tight hold of the public purse-strings. The cost of HS2 is already estimated at £42.5bn with a further £7.5bn set aside for the special trains which will use the line.