London's huge supersewer could add £90 to people’s water rates if costs run out of control, a senior MP warned today.
Ex-minister Grant Shapps, who heads the British Infrastructure Group of MPs (BIG), said he was concerned that Londoners had been asked to write a “blank cheque” for the Thames Tideway Tunnel.
After studying the £4.2 billion scheme as part of a wider review of major construction projects in the UK, the MPs concluded it should have had better protection for householders built into the contracts.
Mr Shapps said: “Big supports vital infrastructure projects. However, we reject the notion that any project, whatever its merits, should be given a blank cheque by the Government.
"Water rates going up by as much as £80 to £90 for Londoners would be an unacceptable outcome.”
The sewer, due to open in 2024, is part of works designed to stop 39 million tonnes of raw sewage spilling into the Thames every year. It involves boring a 15-mile tunnel under the Thames, from Acton to Abbey Mills, wide enough for a lorry to drive along. London’s Victorian sewers regularly overflow.
Although it is being built by a private company, Tideway, the costs will be borne by Thames Water customers.
The Government says bills will go up by £20 to £25 per household on average and has offered to subsidise it in the event of “low probability, but high impact” scenarios.
But BIG said an overspend of 130 per cent of the planned budget would sent bills shooting up by £80 to £90.
Tideway said in a statement: “We are firmly on track to deliver the project on budget and on schedule. The cost of the project for bill payers has come down from the government and Ofwat's original worst-case estimate of £70-£80 to £20-£25 before inflation.”
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