Garden Bridge 'should be scrapped' despite receiving £60m of public money

An independent review into the Garden Bridge’s financial viability has recommended scrapping the controversial project even though it has already received £60 million of public money.

The report to the Mayor by senior Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge said it would be “difficult to justify” giving any more cash while the Trust’s finances were in such a “precarious” state.

She confirmed the proposed pedestrian crossing over the Thames faces a funding gap of at least £70 million after costs escalated above £200 million and donors dropped out.

The review, commissioned by Sadiq Khan, puts the fate of the landmark project — designed by Thomas Heatherwick and backed by Boris Johnson while at City Hall — in jeopardy.

Dame Margaret was not asked to consider whether the bridge was a good idea, but whether it was good value for money for the public funds already committed.

However, her conclusion that the bridge still faces many unresolved issues could put the Mayor under pressure to think again about its future.

City Hall aides said Mr Khan would “carefully consider” the report before making any decisions. In a letter to its author, he wrote: “We will now take time to thoroughly understand your findings, to read the evidence you have collated and to think through its implications for the future”.

Dame Margaret, who spent five years as chair of the influential Commons public accounts committee, wrote: “Value for money for the taxpayer has not been secured.

Interactive image: The Garden Bridge in numbers

“It would be better for the taxpayer to accept the financial loss of cancelling the project than to risk the potential uncertain additional costs to the public purse if the project proceeds.

“In the present climate, with continuing pressures on public spending, it is difficult to justify further public investment in the Garden Bridge.”

The report found that costs, which were initially all supposed to be covered by private donations, had escalated from an early estimate of £60 million to over £200 million today.

It said the risk to the taxpayer had intensified - with the Trust losing two major private donors and no new pledges secured since August last year.

Dame Margaret said she was “sceptical” it could raise the remaining money and was “firmly of the view” that more public funds would be needed to complete construction.

She urged the Mayor, who has already ruled out spending any more public money, not to sign any guarantees until funding is secured.

The Department for Transport and Transport for London have each committed £30 million although two thirds of TfL’s was in the form of a loan.

The report criticised the two TfL procurements for the Garden Bridge, claiming neither was open, fair or competitive and that they had revealed systemic failures.

It concluded that decisions on the projects had been driven more by the electoral cycle than value for taxpayers’ money.

Lord Mervyn Davies, Chairman of the Garden Bridge Trust, said: “We are pleased that Dame Margaret has finally published her report after six months of uncertainty.

"We will be studying the report in detail and seeking a meeting with the Mayor to discuss next steps.

"The Trust remains as determined as ever to make the Garden Bridge happen which will bring huge benefits to London and the UK.”