FOI request detail

Crossrail 2 Funding and Finance Study

Request ID: FOI-3150-1920
Date published: 05 February 2020

You asked

PWC produced a report titled “Crossrail 2 Funding and Finance Study” for TfL. In this report PWC state that Mott MacDonald, were commissioned by TfL to undertake a full engineering feasibility and capital cost study for each of the metro and regional options of the Crossrail 2 scheme. I would like a copy of the regional report. Clarification: Apologies, it’s the Mott MacDonald engineering report I would like a copy of. I have the PWC report.

We answered

Our Ref:         FOI-3150-1920

Thank you for your request received on 18 January 2020 asking for a copy of the Crossrail2 Funding and Finance Study.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. We do hold the information you require.

In accordance with the FOI Act, we are not obliged to provide the capital cost report as this information is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section 43(2).

In this instance the exemption has been applied as disclosure of the information you have requested is commercially sensitive and disclosure would be likely to prejudice our commercial interests. The report contains a breakdown of the estimated costs to construct the scheme, including a breakdown of the estimated costs to construct each proposed station and the land and property cost estimates. We are currently in discussions with possible development partners to help build the stations for us as part of wider developments around the stations, in the event the Scheme is approved. Disclosing information on the expected cost could impact our commercial discussions as it would be likely to result in a clustering of bids based on how much we estimate the costs to be.

Government has been clear that London should fund at least half of the project. Affordability is therefore one of the project’s most pressing issues, and it is imperative that Crossrail 2 not only maximises the benefit to passengers, but also offers the greatest value for taxpayers’ money. An important aspect of this was the Independent Affordability Review (IAR) that took place in 2018 that considered issues around funding, finance and affordability, and ensure that Crossrail 2 is both as affordable as possible and fair to the taxpayer. A significant amount of work went into the Review and TfL continues to look at ways to make the scheme more affordable. The disclosure of this commercially sensitive information could therefore undermine the efforts the project has undertaken to date, and impact Crossrail 2’s ongoing efforts to ensure best value for money.

The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public interest in relation to the disclosure of the information concerned. We recognise the need for openness and transparency by public authorities, particularly where the expenditure of public money is concerned, but in this instance the public interest in ensuring that we are able to obtain the best value for public money outweighs the general public interest in increasing transparency of our processes.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London

[email protected]

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