BBC wasted £100m on refit of Broadcasting House offices

Building work at London base, along with Salford and Glasgow sites, will cost £2bn

News in pictures
News in pictures
On Facebook
From the blogs

More than half of Afghanistan’s families live in extreme poverty

Leila is watching her baby intently, as his mouth moves trying to swallow the small blob of yellow p...

Time for a new approach to alcohol

Ambulances were called and three drunk teenagers were brought to my care. One was so drunk we had to...

Bahrain: One year on

I am used to endless lies and criticism from the BNP and its favourite blogster, as well as Islamist...

Paul Volcker stands tall against the banking lobby

Why is Europe, which likes to present itself as an opponent of speculative "Anglo-Saxon" finance, li...

The BBC has wasted £100m – enough money to have employed Jonathan Ross on his widely criticised salary for a further 16 years – by overspending on a refurbishment of Broadcasting House, which will now be completed in 2013, four years behind schedule.

The overspend was uncovered yesterday in a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) which found that the project, along with the building of two other BBC facilities in Salford and Glasgow, will cost a total of £2bn.

Amyas Morse, the head of the NAO, said: "The BBC let the Broadcasting House project run into serious difficulties before the governors and then the trust took action and the result is a four-year delay and a cost overrun of £100m."

In its report, the NAO said: "The BBC is not well placed to demonstrate value for money from the £2bn it has committeed to spending on the three projects over their life."

The report puts pressure on the corporation at a time when the BBC director general Mark Thompson is conducting a review of its services and political and commercial opponents are questioning the amount of money it receives from the licence fee.

The redevelopment of the Broadcasting House building in London's Portland Place will now cost £1.05bn, £55m more than originally approved. Delays to the work have incurred a further £52m in unplanned costs.

The new headquarters for BBC Scotland at Pacific Quay in Glasgow will now cost £188m, rather than the originally planned £126m. Mr Morse added that "for future major projects, the BBC needs to make sure that investment decisions are based on a full assessment of the scope and cost of the project".

The Salford Quays project, which will contain five BBC departments including BBC Sport and the radio network Five Live, is expected to cost £76m less than the budgeted £877m when it is completed late next year.

Responding to the report, Jeremy Peat, of the BBC Trust, the corporation's governing body, said: "Serious mistakes were made in the first phase of the Broadcasting House project. Licence fee-payers were let down."

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

No secularism please, we're British

No secularism please, we're British

Arguments about the role of religion in national life have recently acquired a new urgency
Harold Tillman: 'Chinese tourists can save the high street – if we let them'

Harold Tillman interview

'Chinese tourists can save the high street – if we let them'
Working as a jail torturer ruined my life

Working as a jail torturer ruined my life

Meet the former soldier who has joined the political prisoners he tortured in Turkey's Mamak prison by suing the generals who led a regime of terror
The local high street jet shop

The local high street jet shop

Got a spare $50m and can't stand the queues at Heathrow? Get yourself down to London's first private plane dealership
Do you like your doctor? It could be the death of you

Do you like your doctor?

It could be the death of you...
The mysterious affair of how Agatha Christie is teaching foreigners English

How Agatha Christie is teaching foreigners English

Twenty of the author's novels have been adapted and presented with learning notes and a CD
Six Grammys, five years off: Adele puts love before career

Six Grammys, five years off

Adele puts love before career
The 10 Best binoculars

The 10 Best binoculars

From no-frills to bins with digital cameras
Milan for £300

Milan for £300?

A cultural family holiday - on a budget - to Italy's most stylish city
'Black-hole' resorts: Turn up, tune out, log off

'Black-hole' resorts

Turn up, tune out, log off
New Arsenal face an old question of credibility in San Siro

New Arsenal face an old question of credibility in San Siro

Remodelled since winning in Milan in 2008, for all their consistency – and prize-money – Wenger's side are yet to claim a European title
James Lawton: This prodigal son deserves no forgiveness

James Lawton: This prodigal son deserves no forgiveness

City would be putting their desire to win title ahead of morals if Tevez plays for them
Mark Cavendish: Is Olympic gold at end of the rainbow?

Mark Cavendish interview

Is Olympic gold at end of the rainbow?
Apple admits it has a human rights problem

Apple admits it has a human rights problem

After years of complaints and workers' suicides in China the technology giant faces up to the human cost of its gadgets
Peter Moore: 'I feel guilty I'm the only one alive'

Peter Moore interview

'I feel guilty I'm the only one alive'