Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that the Thames Tideway Tunnel project provides value for money, in the light of the National Audit Office’s Report "The choice of finance for capital investment" published on 18 March.

The NAO report considered the difference between publicly-funded investment and public-private partnerships, such as PFI. It describes the Government’s decision-making processes and summarises recent developments. The report does not draw conclusions about the Government’s record.

The Thames Tideway Tunnel is a private sector project of a scale and complexity unique to the UK water industry. The Government issued the Strategic Case for the Tunnel (“Creating a River Thames Fit for our Future”) in November 2011, and the need for a tunnel was confirmed by Parliament in March 2012 when the Waste Water National Policy Statement was approved. The Government confirmed in a Written Ministerial Statement on 5 June 2014 (Official Report, column 11WS) that it would, subject to State Aid clearance, offer a contingent financial support package to the winner of the procurement for an Infrastructure Provider to finance and deliver the Thames Tideway Tunnel currently being undertaken by Thames Water. The Government continues to judge that the project will be value for money for taxpayers and customers who will be directly funding the Tunnel, and that an Infrastructure Provider procured by Thames Water is the preferred route for delivering the project.