For many years the Environment Agency has spent our money on the River Thames Scheme. So where has our money gone? The response to a Freedom of Information request from Ian Swinglehurst to the Environment Agency resulted in the tabulated answer below. Note the bottom line total = £100m +
That is a lot of money but better still – check out the penultimate line on the chart – sunk cost to OBC [OBC = outline business case] = (just under) £40m.
While you consider the vast sums involved – just look closely at where the money went. Furthermore – do not forget that RTS Channel One was removed from the project in July 2020 simply because RBWM was unwilling or unable make the calculated contribution towards the mandatory Partnership Funding. The RTS Channel One replacement flood defence (DHEFIM) is still under consideration. According to Claude (Ai) the overall project cost is estimated at around £640 million for the full construction when completed. Given that the project is still in the pre-construction/planning phase and hasn’t begun major construction work yet, current spending would still be focused on design, planning, consultations, and preparatory work.
From looking at this it appears obvious that various “Professional Services” see this as a big cash cow from which they can put in exorbitant bills and no check is made on any value for money.