London Assembly panel moots inquiry into 拢46m public spend on Heatherwick project

Staff involved with spending decisions related to the millions of pounds in public money allocated to Thomas Heatherwick鈥檚 scrapped Garden Bridge could face new scrutiny of their actions, it has emerged.

The suggestion was made at a meeting of the London Assembly鈥檚 Oversight Committee dedicated to the cancelled project, which was the brainchild of actress Joanna Lumley and backed by former mayor Boris Johnson.

Project backer the Garden Bridge Trust formally threw in the towel on its proposals in August, after current mayor Sadiq Khan refused to guarantee the structure鈥檚 annual maintenance costs against a backdrop of an estimated 拢70m funding shortfall in private-sector backing for the scheme.

A report on the project by MP Margaret Hodge 鈥 and which prompted Khan鈥檚 decision 鈥 estimated the bridge would still cost the public purse up to 拢46.4m because of contributions already made and commitments given by Transport for London and the Department for Transport.

 

Len Duvall

Len Duvall, chair of the London Assembly鈥檚 Oversight Committee

 

Oversight Committee chair Len Duvall told yesterday鈥檚 meeting there was a case for probing the behaviour of staff in TfL and City Hall, and urged the organisations to take a joint approach to evaluating the potential for investigating the extent of any rule-breaking in the way funding was drawn down.

鈥淚 believe that there may well be a case, and there may well be a case in the GLA, where there is misconduct of officials,鈥 he said.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 something I don鈥檛 take lightly, but I think that鈥檚 something that needs to be looked at, and I don鈥檛 see how we can conclude these issues around the Garden Bridge unless we look at those issues.

鈥淚鈥檓 not one for taking heads, but 拢46m has been lost to the public purse on this project. The drawing down of money 鈥 I鈥檓 not sure there was due diligence done.鈥

Duvall suggested that TfL and City Hall look into taking joint legal advice on the potential for misconduct investigations.

Earlier in the hearing Margaret Hodge said she believed the cost to the public purse of the Garden Bridge, which was due to have been built by Bouygues and Italian steelwork firm Cimolai, would have risen to more than 拢100m if it had proceeded to construction 鈥 even though it was originally supposed to be funded entirely privately, and had a cost estimate of 拢60m.

Hodge said her 鈥済uesstimate鈥 was based on indications from the Garden Bridge Trust that the price tag for the project would be more than 拢200m and bore in mind the 拢70m-plus funding shortfall her report identified in their finances.

鈥淚 just couldn鈥檛 feel the realism of their being able to raise private finance, given the controversial nature of the project,鈥 she said.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e a philanthropist or a corporation, you want something back for an investment of that nature and in a controversial project of this sort it鈥檚 difficult to see what they would have got back.

鈥淚 simply couldn鈥檛 believe that they would be able to raise the money for the management and the maintenance, particularly if the mayor had given the guarantee. Because if you鈥檝e got the guarantee, why on earth would you as a funder think there was any point in putting your money in?鈥

 

Margaret Hodge

Margaret Hodge appears before the London Assembly鈥檚 Oversight Committee yesterday