Exclusive: National Highways Agency stripped of oversight with project handed to DfT amid Labour government drive for growth
Ministers have stripped the government’s road-building agency of responsibility for a £10bn tunnel under the River Thames amid a drive by Keir Starmer’s cabinet to take tight control over important infrastructure projects for fear of cost overruns and delays.
Oversight of the Lower Thames Crossing – the UK’s largest planned infrastructure project – has been taken away from National Highways, and handed to the Department for Transport (DfT).
Internal consultation documents, seen by the Guardian, said that the costs of the Lower Thames Crossing will be overseen by the DfT, leaving National Highways to “focus on managing, maintaining, and renewing the network”.
However, campaigners warned that the move could in fact lead to HS2-levels of overspending and ministers quietly approving developments which would harm the environment behind closed doors.
