The NDA's decision to settle legal claims

1.13  After the High Court judgment, Bechtel, the majority partner in the consortium, also issued a claim against the NDA. The NDA and the Department also received notifications from other bidders asking for the return of their bid cost, but the Department told us that these requests were without merit and have been turned down.

1.14  In response to the High Court judgment, the chief executive of the civil service chaired a series of seven meetings with senior officials across government. These officials included the Department's accounting officer, legal advisers, the government's chief commercial officer, and representatives of HM Treasury and UKGI. The chief executive of the NDA was also present in four of these meetings. This group received legal advice on the prospects of successfully appealing the judgment.

1.15  In March 2017, the NDA Board decided to settle with Energy Solutions and Bechtel. This decision was approved by HM Treasury and the Department, supported by UKGI. The NDA agreed to settle with Energy Solutions for £85 million including legal costs, and with Bechtel for £12.3 million including legal costs. The NDA and the Department's assessment was that the settlement offered value for money in light of the risk of a greater quantum of damages being awarded by the courts. An additional reason was the burden the litigation was placing upon the NDA (Figure 7).