MG Rover inquiry finally finished after four years and £16 million

Jun 28 2009 by Ben Goldby, Sunday Mercury

A £16 MILLION report into the collapse of MG Rover has finally been completed after more than FOUR YEARS.

But the costly inquiry has been blasted by Richard Burden, Birmingham Northfield MP, who labelled the delay “incredibly frustrating” for the 6,000 people who had lost their jobs after the demise of Longbridge.

The Conservatives had also previously accused the accountants running the inquiry of “living like kings” as they ran up the enormous bill.

In a reply to a parliamentary question from Mr Burden, business minister Ian Lucas confirmed that inspectors finally delivered their report to the business secretary on June 11.

Mr Lucas told the Labour MP, whose constituency includes almost all of the former MG Rover site at Longbridge, that the total cost of the inquiry had risen to £15,922,838.

Chartered accountants BDO Stoy Hayward, who were appointed to head the investigation, had reportedly spent more than £100,000 on hotel bills and a further £30,000 on meals and other expenses during the inquiry.

Former Tory industry spokesman Charles Hendry previously said: “The more we learn about this investigation, the odder it becomes.

“Whilst undertaking this inquiry into the debacle at Longbridge which saw many people lose their livelihoods, the investigators are living like kings courtesy of the taxpayer.”

Mr Lucas acknowledged that the cost of the “complex” inquiry had been very high and said the Government would make changes to inquiries in the future to cut down the expense to the taxpayer.

Mr Burden has called on Westminster to make the findings of the report public as quickly as possible.