The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has criticised the BBC for underestimating the scale and complexity of its E20 project, which will be completed almost five years late
EastEnders external set was built 35 years ago and is no longer fit for purpose. Therefore, the E20 project is to replace and enlarge the external EastEnders set and improve various infrastructure.
However, E20 is late and over budget due to what MPs say are the BBC’s fundamental project management failures.
MPs said they were concerned that the E20 project had “gone off-track yet again” after the 26-month delay revealed in 2016.
The project is now set to cost licence fee payers £87m – £27m more than budgeted. It is not set to be complete until May 2023, nearly five years later than originally planned.
Committee chair Meg Hillier said: “The BBC made fundamental mistakes in planning and delivering E20, at significant extra cost to licence fee payers.
“The apparent complacency with which the BBC approached the project is entirely at odds with EastEnders’ strategic importance to the corporation.
“It was a serious error at the outset not to consider exactly what skills would be needed to see E20 through. The resulting shortfall in key expertise set the tone for much of what followed.
“The revised completion date for E20 is still more than four years away and, as work continues, the BBC must demonstrate it now has a firm grip on the project’s costs and progress.”
MPs have recommended that commencing in October 2019 – one year into the construction of the Front Lot – the BBC should annually update the committee on the progress, expected costs and completion date of E20.
MPs stated: “These updates should demonstrate how the BBC has learned lessons from previous project failings, and whether its revised risk and contingency budget has been adequate.”
They also recommended that by July 2019, the BBC should develop processes to make sure the right skills are in place from the outset for all of its critical projects.
