The Department and TfL are jointly sponsoring the Crossrail project. A number of agreements formalise delivery and governance arrangements:
• An agreement between the Department and TfL, which sets out the respective responsibilities of the two sponsors and how the programme will be governed.
• A Project Development Agreement between the Department, TfL and Crossrail Ltd, which defines Crossrail Ltd's overall responsibility for successful delivery of Crossrail, including construction, integrating the programme and making preparations for operating the railway. The project development agreement did not state how sponsors would gain assurance about Crossrail Ltd's readiness to move to the operational phase of the programme.
• A protocol between Network Rail and Crossrail Ltd sets out Network Rail's responsibilities for delivering the surface elements of the route.
A joint sponsor board oversees the programme and meets monthly to discuss progress on the programme. A joint sponsor team supports the sponsor Board, and is made up of staff from TfL and the Department. The Project Representative (P-Rep) is a team of engineers and project management specialists from engineering firm Jacobs that is contracted by the sponsors to provide support and advice to the sponsor team and sponsor board. It reviews and provides commentary on Crossrail Ltd's regular progress reports, as well as carrying out focused reviews of particular aspects of the programme.
In the project development agreement, the sponsors and Crossrail Ltd agreed a set of 'intervention points' to encourage Crossrail Ltd to keep its own direct costs within available funding, and set out actions sponsors could take in the event that forecast costs increased above specified thresholds. Crossrail Ltd's forecast costs breached the first two intervention points in November 2015 and June 2017 respectively, which resulted in sponsors seeking assurance that Crossrail Ltd could bring costs under control.
The project formally breached the final intervention point in May 2018. At this stage, TfL could have required the Department to take ownership of Crossrail Ltd and either wind-up or continue with the project. In the event, sponsors decided not to take this option, but sought further assurances from Crossrail Ltd that it could bring costs under control.