Whistleblower sacked after accusing HS2 bosses of fraud for ignoring warnings about the true cost of the project wins over £300,000

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

A 'brave' whistleblower who lost his job after accusing HS2 executives of fraud over the true cost of the controversial project has won more than £300,000 in compensation.
Risk management expert Stephen Cresswell repeatedly raised concerns that the cost of the high speed rail line - which could end up landing the taxpayer with a bill of more than £80billion - was being 'actively misrepresented'.
The consultant was told by one HS2 executive to 'disregard' scenarios he had prepared which forecast a 'significant' increase in the price to the public, an employment tribunal heard.
As a result, Mr Cresswell warned that he found himself in a 'very uncomfortable position' of having a 'very different' view to the high speed rail line company's 'documented position'.
The tribunal heard that in a meeting with bosses he said 'fraud had been committed because he understood fraud to be making false statement so as to secure a benefit'.
After losing his job, Mr Cresswell took HS2 to an employment tribunal, claiming he had his contract terminated and been denied other work as a result of blowing the whistle.
After the rail firm admitted that he had not given adequate levels of protection following his disclosures he has now been awarded £319,070 in damages.
In response, campaigners said it was not to late for Labour to consider scrapping high speed rail over years of 'catastrophic mishandling'.
But HS2 bosses said the firm is 'now under new leadership', adding that it had not accepted Mr Cresswell's allegations.
The project to build a high speed line between London, the Midlands and the North was announced in 2010 by then Conservative Transport Secretary Philip Hammond.
But ever since it has been beset by controversy amid ballooning costs - including spending £100million on a tunnel for bats.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Mr Cresswell later accused HS2 of having deployed a 'classic playbook' used on major taxpayer-funded construction projects, by holding back accurate cost predictions to ensure government kept money flowing in.
Following his tribunal win he said: 'In my opinion HS2 is not an organisation that should be trusted with public money.
'HS2 is destroying taxpayer value, a properly functioning administration would mothball the programme and undertake a full independent investigation.'
Today John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'HS2 has rightly become a byword for incompetence and scandal given the catastrophic mishandling of the project by one of Britain's most hopeless and profligate quangos.
'One of the biggest problems was an embarrassing underestimate of the costs and overestimate of the benefits, despite warnings from industry experts and campaigners including this brave whistleblower.
'Even at this late stage Labour ministers should consider abolishing the project entirely.'
HS2 Ltd says investigations into Mr Cresswell's claims found no evidence of fraud or illegal activity.
In a statement it said: 'HS2 Ltd has accepted that Mr Cresswell raised concerns as a whistleblower and was not then given the appropriate level of protection when his contract came to an end.
'This is regrettable and HS2 Ltd is committed to ensuring that staff and others can raise concerns in confidence.
'This admission does not mean that HS2 Ltd accepts the specific allegations around cost estimating practices raised by Mr Cresswell.
'However, the company is under now under new leadership and a comprehensive review of its skills and structures is being carried out.'
Last month a DfT spokesperson said: 'We take all whistleblowing allegations seriously and it is important that individuals are given appropriate levels of protection, which clearly was not the case for Mr Cresswell.
'There is a lot of hard work still to do to get this project back on track, which is why we are overseeing a total reset of HS2, and reviewing the programme's costs, schedule and culture.'