Today, the Greater London Authority released a biting investigative report on the Garden Bridge conducted by senior Member of Parliament Margaret Hodge. Last October, Mayor Sadiq Khan formally appointed Hodge to lead the independent review, as part of Khan's promise to investigate the decisions surrounding the mismanaged project when he first came into office. Based on Hodge's findings, prospects on the controversial project are still looking grim; it would be better to ditch the project than risk wasting more public money.

Rendering courtesy of Arup/Heatherwick Studio.

“This review does not seek to assess whether building a Garden Bridge over the River Thames is a good idea; that is a matter for the Mayor, and I made clear at the start of this review process that I had no view,” Hodge writes in the introduction. The report focuses on examining value for money for public funds. Hodge notes the likelihood of increasing project costs, which she states could rise to over £200 million with continued financial risks if the project proceeds. The project “seemed to be driven by electoral cycles rather than good project management,” Hodge writes.

Dame Margaret Hodge MP.
 
“The original ambition to fund the Garden Bridge through private finance has been abandoned,” the report states. Hodge believes the Garden Bridge Trust, with the “precarious state” of its finances, will fail to raise the required private funds and will resort to gobbling up more public money to complete construction. According to the report, the Trust lost £14 million of pledged private funds between May-August 2016 and hasn't secured any new pledges since then. 

Hodge doesn't necessarily recommend that the project be scrapped, but she insists that the Garden Bridge Trust must decide whether they will be able to secure the needed private funds, considering that “philanthropists will be cautious about associating themselves” with such a controversial project.

Hodge's review also investigates the conduct and procedures of the Transport for London, the GLA, and other relevant project authorities. It includes input on the two TfL procurements on Heatherwick Studio's and Arup's contracts, which Hodge criticized were “not open, fair or competitive” and “revealed systemic failures and ineffective control systems at many levels”. Hodge regretfully points out that former mayor Boris Johnson — the ultimate decision-maker of the Garden Bridge — refused to contribute to the report in any form.

“We will be studying the report in detail and seeking a meeting with the mayor to discuss next steps,” Mervyn Davies, chairman of the Garden Bridge Trust, told the BBC.

The report “raises extremely serious questions” about the way the previous administration handled the project, Mayor Khan stated in a response to Hodge's report. “In light of the review, we will consider whether any further improvements are required to TfL processes and practice.”

You can find Hodge's full report here.