Latest board papers also reveal that Mace has also been drafted in to oversee the project and manage risk for the Trust after Laing O’Rourke said it would not take responsibility for cost or the hand-over date as part of its restart deal.

Laing O’Rourke, which is managing the construction contract, has already started some minor early works. It will provide a detailed construction programme in the New Year setting out a timescale for handover towards the end of 2020.

The board papers ahead of tomorrow’s meeting state that the agreement sees Laing O’Rourke with a very different set of responsibilities to those carried by Carillion.

As a result, the board had decided to strengthen the trust’s project team to enable it to run the project.

“Laing O’Rourke was not prepared to take any risk on either construction cost or timetable to complete – these risks sit with the trust which we will manage through Mace and the in-house project team,” reveals trust chief executive Aidan Kehoe.

In his summary,  Kehoe adds: “One key safeguard going forward is that the trust will make payments to Laing O’Rourke’s subcontractors directly.

“This means that should the same situation befall Laing O’Rourke as it did Carillion, then the trust would simply look to appoint a new contract manager. Subcontractors would continue to work and get paid as normal.

“Whilst some delay may be inevitable, the subcontractors would be kept whole and there would be no risk to the project being completed. ”

The Trust is currently working with Laing O’Rourke through the procurement process, with around 140 works package contractors who were previously employed on the site.

Having all these contracts in place will see a swifter restart and means that where possible, the Trust retains the warranties for the original works, as well as the completion works.

Kehoe added: “After such a challenging and turbulent time over the last 11 months, we are glad to see work begin back on the site and we are looking forward to the New Year with fresh optimism.

“With Laing O’Rourke and others in place, more contractors to follow in the coming months and work returning to the site, our staff are now refocusing their attention on our plans for moving in.”