HS2 bosses accused of splurging ‘offensive’ quantities of taxpayers’ money on ‘spin’ because it emerges high-speed rail venture’s PR division has almost 100 employees costing as much as £14million a 12 months

HS2 bosses were on Monday accused of splurging ‘offensive’ amounts of taxpayers’ cash on ‘spin’ as it emerged the high-speed rail project’s PR department has nearly 100 staff costing up to £14million a year.

More than £800,000 alone is being spent on 12 spin doctors and social media experts to promote and defend the beleaguered project after the budget for its ‘External Affairs Directorate’ increased by nearly two-thirds.

Meanwhile, 38 staff work in ‘community engagement’ trying to sell HS2 to local residents whose lives are being blighted by disruptive building works.

The project’s PR arm has 95 staff in total, with the rest working on public affairs, events and internal communications.

Details obtained exclusively by the Mail show that it was handed a budget of £9million last year (2024-25).

But this was increased by £5million to £14million for the current financial year, according to a Freedom of Information request.

Project insiders on Monday insisted the budget increase was because the ‘Stakeholder Engagement and Skills’ team was moved out of the PR department (External Affairs Directorate) last year, but moved back into it this year.

They also insisted overall spending on PR over a longer period has decreased.

But critics said the figure being spent on PR at taxpayers’ expense remained too high.

HS2 trains were supposed to start running between London and Birmingham by this year, but won’t until at least the mid-2030s amid several delays and spiraling costs 

HS2’s projected cost was originally around £30billion or so, but has ballooned to £100billion even for a much shorter route than originally planned. One major cost has been tunnelling, pictured 

HS2 critics have complained that the building work along the route of the high-speed rail project has blighted the lives of many residents 

The Tory MP for Buckingham, Greg Smith, whose constituents have been blighted by building work for years, said: ‘It’s utterly infuriating that HS2’s priority is to increase communications spending massively, while my constituents still wait for payments on land taken, promised mitigation projects remain unfunded and our roads are crumbling under the strain of HS2’s HGVs.

‘It is beyond offensive for HS2 to spend taxpayers’ money in this way when those same taxpayers are suffering under HS2 construction behaviour.’

Lord Tony Berkeley, who served as the deputy chair of a government-ordered review into HS2, said it added ‘insult to injury’ after officials ‘lied’ for years about the true costs of the project.

He added: ‘I’m afraid it is quite ridiculous. I think taxpayers will think it’s a complete waste of money and it’s why several years ago I called for the project to be cancelled. Where’s the cost benefit?’

Last year the Mail revealed how the new boss of HS2 has been lavished with a huge pay package worth up to nearly £1million.

Mark Wild, who took over as CEO in December 2024, will pocket a salary of £600,000 this year (2025/2026).

But he is also in line for a bonus of up to £280,000 and pension contributions of £60,000, meaning his overall package is worth up to a staggering £940,000.

Mark Wild, the CEO of HS2, is in line for a pay package of up to nearly £1million this year. He sparked controversy last year for refusing to apologise for the rail project spending £100million on an infamous ‘bat tunnel’

Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary, has described HS2 as an ‘appalling mess’ that Labour will ‘sort out’ 

HS2 was originally going to link London with Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds. But Phase One, highlighted green above, will only now go ahead after several parts were axed by previous Tory governments 

The potential sum dwarfs the £676,763 that Mark Thurston, the previous CEO, got in his final year at the helm.

Mr Wild sparked controversy last year for refusing to apologise for the rail project spending £100million on an infamous ‘bat tunnel’ intended to protect the animals from passing trains, saying that the structure in Buckinghamshire was a legal requirement because the creatures are legally protected in the UK.

HS2 has been dogged by repeated delays and spiralling costs, with Birmingham to London trains originally due to begin this year. But this now won’t happen until at least the mid-2030s.

The project initially had a price tag of just over £30billion, including for eastern and western legs branching off to Leeds and Manchester from Birmingham.

But only Phase One, which connects London with Birmingham, will now go ahead after both northern legs were axed by previous Tory Governments.

Despite this, estimates suggest the final cost will still exceed £100billion.

A spokesman for HS2 Ltd, which runs the project, said: ‘The rise in the External Affairs Directorate budget over the last year is simply a reflection of an internal reorganisation.

‘Spending on communications overall has actually been cut by 37 per cent in two years.’