The names of companies and public bodies who have signed non disclosure agreements (NDAs) with High Speed 2 Ltd (HS2 Ltd) can finally be revealed after an 18 month Freedom of Information (FoI) battle.
The heavily guarded list of 253 companies and public bodies was kept secret by HS2 Ltd until it was forced to disclose the names after the intervention of the Information Commissioner.
The list of companies to have signed NDAs – often referred to as “gagging orders” – includes dozens of councils, contractors, consultants and charities (see below for full list).
The NDAs, which were signed between September 2012 and March 2019, cover the early development of the project up to the detailed design stage and early construction works of the rail line from London to Birmingham and the North.
An additional 38 NDAs were also signed with individuals during this time, however those names remain undisclosed.
NCE understands that at least 50 additional orders have been signed between HS2 Ltd and third parties since March 2019.
Contractors and consultants on the list include Atkins, Balfour Beatty, Ove Arup, Deloitte, Mace, Morgan Sindall and Savills.
Dozens of councils along the entire route of the new rail line have also signed NDAs, as well as official regulators such as the Health & Safety Executive.
Firms such as The Post Office and charities including The National Trust, Historic England, the Big Lottery Fund have also agreed to the gagging orders, as have industry bodies bodies such as the Construction Industry Training Board and the Construction Products Association and Constructing Better Health.
Five universities to have signed NDAs include University College London, Cranfield University, Birmingham City University, the University of Birmingham and the University of Leeds.
HS2 Ltd even asked the National College for Advanced Transport (formerly known as the National College for High Speed Rail) to sign a secretive order.
NDAs are designed to preserve confidential information such as cost prices or commercially sensitive details of a project from being widely disseminated.
However NDAs are increasingly used to stop information from being published which would otherwise be open to public scrutiny.
It is understood that many councils were asked to sign the agreements before they could engage with HS2 Ltd on issues to do with the new line, such as where new stations could be placed, design aspects of the stations and the preferred route for the £100bn project.
In 2018 it was revealed that Warwickshire County Council, which is included on the list released by HS2 Ltd, was made to sign a non-disclosure agreement before it was allowed to receive any early design project updates on HS2 prior to the publication of the Hybrid Bill in Parliament.
The use of NDAs was criticised in a major review into England’s planning system undertaken last year.
Led by former construction minister Nick Raynsford, the review concluded that NDAs “undermine public trust” in major infrastructure projects.
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In the review, Raynsford criticised the “widespread use of confidentiality agreements by the HS2 company”, stating that they had a “corrosive sense on the part of the public, that planning is no longer protecting their interests”.
Commenting on the gagging orders, former HS2 director of land and property Doug Thornton said: “The scale of the NDAs are phenomenal. What surprised me is quite how many firms there are on this list. I felt like a lone voice calling out issues [with HS2] but these gagging orders not only gag companies but also thousands of employees which are involved in the HS2 project.
“NDAs take the realm of local consultation out of the equation, the organisations who have capability and wherewithal to consult on these complex projects with those affected were stymied at an early point in the project. A lot of these projects have nothing to do with accountability and local democracy.”
An HS2 Ltd FoI officer added: “Like any contract, these agreements are entered into by mutual consent and frequently HS2 Ltd enters into what we refer to as ‘mutual’ NDAs that protect not just HS2 Ltd’s confidential information but the confidential information of the third party/ies involved.”
Revealed: The 253 companies and public bodies to sign HS2 ‘gagging orders’
SKY News: Whistleblowers say the Public have been deceived over the cost of HS2
In documents seen by The Sunday Times, Doug Thornton, HS2’s former head of property, said the organisation put him under “tremendous pressure to accede to an enormous deceit” that the official budget for buying land and buildings was accurate.
https://news.sky.com/story/whistleblowers-say-public-have-been-deceived-over-cost-of-hs2-11918771
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