"If the approvals process is handled centrally, the National Commissioning Board will have a significant amount of work, which will in all likelihood have an impact on how quickly we can deliver schemes," warns Matthew Newing, a partner at law firm Speechly Bircham.
He added: "When you've got the money to deliver schemes - particularly the ones close to schools - it's vital the tiny amount of money and time required to do them are delivered quickly".
The MPA was established in 2010 with the aim of turning around the civil service's "lamentable record" of delivering large schemes.
More research is needed into determining acceptability of HPFI in a wider range of stakeholders, particularly policymakers, who will be involved in designing and delivering HPFI schemes.
The high initial cost of delivering the scheme should be offset by the savings that are projected to accrue from longer-term improved health and educational outcomes.
In December 2007, the Identity and Passport Service, the branch of the Home Office responsible for delivering the scheme, announced they had dropped plans to utilise iris scans.
The committee also raised concerns over the ownership and finances of Renewal, the increasingly mysterious offshore-owned property developer Lewisham insists is the only party capable of delivering the scheme.
A Network Rail spokeswoman said: "To progress to the next step and meet the regulatory commitment of delivering the scheme by 2019, we need confirmation that the funding for the project is secured".
The challenge for the agency in the next two to three years is to keep the technology running sufficiently to deliver the schemes as our customers expect, until they are replaced, and in practice, many of the annual schemes have to run beyond their nominal year because of external factors, for example, probate cases," says the document.
The 13 property partners have been chosen substantially on the basis that they have the financial and technical resources to deliver complex schemes.
