Infrastructure and Projects Authority chief executive Nick Smallwood has criticised the growth of working from home among design teams for delaying progress with major schemes and ramping up costs.

Nick Smallwood made the comments at an evidence session with members of parliament’s Treasury Select Committee when he was being questioned about the red-rating given to the high-speed rail plans in the IPA’s annual report on the Government Major Projects Portfolio.

Smallwood said the rating – suggesting the project is “unachievable” within its budget, timescale or both – had followed “significant cost impacts of inflation”, including material-price inflation of 26% in one year alone.

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