On 14 July last year, my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, South (Mr. Harris), made a statement offering assurance to Parliament that a statement will be published at least every 12 months until the completion of the construction of Crossrail, setting out information about the project's funding and finances. This assurance was placed on the Crossrail Register of Undertakings and Assurances.
Government are committed to ensuring that there is a high level of transparency as to the progress and cost of the Crossrail project. Our intention in this area was set out in the Heads of Terms which were signed in November 2007. The Heads of Terms have now been superseded by the Crossrail Core Agreements, binding legal documents which set out the funding, governance and delivery arrangements for the Crossrail project. These were signed by the Secretary of State for Transport, Transport for London, and Cross London Rail Links Ltd on 3 December last year, and were published in the House Library, with an accompanying statement to the House. Since the assurance was given, Cross London Rail Links Ltd has also changed its name to Crossrail Ltd.
In line with my hon. Friend's assurance to the House I am therefore publishing this statement within 12 months of the Crossrail Act 2008 coming into force on 22 July 2008, and set out below the information outlined in that assurance:
| Total funding amounts provided to Crossrail Ltd by the Department for Transport and TfL in relation to the construction of Crossrail in the period 22 July 2008 to 30 May 2009. |
£200.922 million |
| Expenditure incurred by Crossrail Ltd in relation to the construction of Crossrail in the period 22 July 2008 to 30 May 2009 (excluding recoverable VAT on land and property purchases). |
£196.803 million |
| Total expenditure incurred by Crossrail Ltd in relation to the construction of Crossrail to the end of the period 22 July 2008 to 30 May 2009 (excluding recoverable VAT on land and property purchases). |
£196.803 million |
| The amounts realised by the disposal of any land or property for the purposes of the construction of Crossrail by the Secretary of State, TfL or Crossrail Ltd in the period covered by the statement. |
Nil |
The numbers above have been provided by Crossrail Ltd and are drawn from their accounts for the relevant periods.
I can also confirm that the costs of the construction of Crossrail are likely to fall within the agreed budget, based on best current estimates of costs provided by Crossrail Ltd.
The Government remain fully committed to Crossrail. This is a long-term major infrastructure project, helping, and responding to, London and the South-East's transport needs for the next half century and more.
We remain confident that Crossrail will be delivered on time and on budget and that the project can be funded as planned.