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Some £200 billion of major Government infrastructure projects left by the Conservatives are classified as “unachievable” and need to be scrapped or reconsidered, a Whitehall report has revealed in advance of the spending review.
Altogether, the Government inherited £996 billion of major projects, but a record proportion – £198 billion – are now given a red classification by a new quango set up by the Labour Government, the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, which reports to the Treasury.
In the past 12 months, the value of unachievable projects nearly doubled – rising by £101 billion to £198 billion. This is the highest figure and proportion of projects since annual monitoring by Whitehall of progress on infrastructure schemes began in 2013.
The disclosures in the authority’s first annual report may well explain why the Government has delayed developing the Northern Powerhouse rail project – a fast rail line linking Liverpool with Hull – which is estimated in the report to cost £30.9 billion and has been classified as a “red” project this year. It had been proposed by the Conservatives since 2015.
A red project “means successful delivery of the project appears to be unachievable. There are major issues with project definition, schedule, budget, quality and/or benefits delivery, which at this stage do not appear to be manageable or resolvable. The project may need re-scoping and/or its overall viability reassessed.”
It is the same rating that has been given to the stub of HS2 from London to Birmingham, which is also seen as poor value for money.
Altogether, 31 out of 213 schemes, are classified as “red”. Three of them, including the Northern Powerhouse project, are new this year. The other two are plans for Sellafield to build a deep level underground nuclear waste facility in Lincolnshire which could cost anything between £20.3 billion and £53.3 billion because of technical and geological problems. Since Reform UK won control of the county council it has said it would block the scheme and refuse planning permission.
The third programme in trouble is one by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which costs £24.875 billion. This is the Farming and Countryside Programme which aims to deliver by 2028 “a renewed agricultural sector, producing healthy food for consumption at home and abroad, where farms can be profitable and economically sustainable without subsidy and Farming and the countryside contributing significantly to environmental goals including addressing climate change”.
Other programmes that are classified as red are Defra’s tree planting and peat restoration programme; plans for a computerised national police database and a £2 billion redevelopment of Devonport naval base to maintain Astute submarines.
A substantial number of Ministry of Defence projects also overrun but Darren Jones, now chief secretary to the Prime Minister in the cabinet, says in the foreword to the report:
It is important to recognise that not every project in the portfolio is measured by direct monetary benefits – particularly those led by the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Justice. We are living in an increasingly volatile world, facing new and complex threats that require a robust and modern response. MoD projects alone account for £327 billion of the Government Major Projects Portfolio and, ultimately, the safety and security of the nation are beyond price
He has also promised that the new Labour Government will do things differently from the Conservatives and “learn lessons from past mistakes”.
“In June 2025, I set out a comprehensive 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy to restore confidence in the UK’s infrastructure.
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“Backed by at least £725 billion of Government funding over the coming decade, it will deliver tangible improvements for people across the country, such as over £6 billion per year to create safer hospital environments, £600 million per year to improve safety and security in prisons and the wider justice sector, and £3 billion per year to transform learning environments in schools and colleges.”