Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to put out to full tender the development of the HS2 Euston station, approach tracks and tunnel to Old Oak Common.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The exact design of the model to be used, how it is taken to market, as well as how and where the alternative funding generated by this will be spent, is commercially sensitive and still subject to further work to ensure we are optimising funding and delivery.
There will be a range of options within this that are still being considered and will require more time to develop before a final proposal is determined. Creating an alternative financing model that delivers value for money for the taxpayer will take time to develop.
The Government’s ambition remains to make best use of funding from alternative sources to enable delivery of the whole project and to ensure that funding is underpinned by contributions from those people and businesses this development supports. Options for using this alternative funding to cover the costs of the tunnel between Old Oak Common and Euston are also being considered.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the latest estimated cost for the construction of HS2 from the Eastern end of Old Oak Common station and the proposed six platform HS2 Euston station.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Following the Network North announcement, the scope and cost estimates for this section of the route are subject to review. An updated cost will be reported to Parliament in due course, noting that we are seeking to strip back the project scope and deliver a station that works, but does not include any features we do not need.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of expected journey times between the HS2 station at Old Oak Common and Tottenham Court Road Underground station via (1) the planned HS2 station at Euston and the Northern line, and (2) the Elizabeth line.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We do not have modelled journey times from Old Oak Common to Tottenham Court Road as requested. The nearest station for which we have estimated journey times is Bond Street (see table below), with journey times broadly similar by either route . Estimated journey times comprise in-vehicle time, wait time and walking time.
Destination | From Old Oak Common via Elizabeth Line | From Old Oak Common via Euston on HS2 |
Bond Street | 24.8 mins | 24.6 mins |
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to remove the safeguarding protections from land or properties covered by HS2 Phases 2A and 2B; whether they will offer any acquired properties or land back for sale to previous owners and, if so, at what price; and what steps they will take to remedy any HS2-related work that has already commenced on any such land or properties.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Phase 2a safeguarding will be formally lifted in weeks and Phase 2b safeguarding will be amended by the summer of next year, to allow for any safeguarding needed for Northern Powerhouse Rail. In the meantime, we will take steps to begin to lift the blighting effect of HS2 in areas where safeguarding is going to be lifted.
Where any land or property has been acquired compulsorily or via statutory blight and is no longer required, it will be sold subject to the Crichel Down Rules. These require government departments, under certain circumstances, to offer back surplus land to the former owner or the former owner’s successors at the current market value. All land and property will be assessed prior to disposal.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government who were the accounting officers responsible for HS2 at (1) the Department for Transport, and (2) HS2 Ltd, for the period from 1 January 2009 to the present.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Accounting Officers at the Department for Transport and Chief Executives at HS2 Ltd from 1 January 2009 to the present are as follows:
HS2 Ltd
DfT
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of whether service operators of vessels at UK ports should be able to deny boarding to any person representing a potential or actual business competitor of that operator.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Service operators decide the conditions on which their services are provided. Operators including general passenger vessels are subject to relevant consumer and anti-discrimination law, which their terms of business should comply with.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what legal process they plan to follow to cancel HS2 Phase 2A; whether they plan to introduce legislation to repeal the High Speed Rail (West Midlands - Crewe) Act 2021; and what Phase 2A’s cancellation means for the undertakings and assurances given during the passage of the High Speed Rail (West Midlands - Crewe) Bill.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department will ensure that the process to ensure the orderly and safe cessation of activities on Phase 2a is regular and proper as set out in the Permanent Secretary’s Accounting Officer Assessment. There are no immediate plans to introduce legislation to repeal the High Speed Rail (West Midlands - Crewe) Act 2021. The Department and HS2 Ltd will review all Undertakings and Assurances given and will consider what steps, if any, are required to manage them on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they provide concerning the criteria for approval of major infrastructure projects, in particular on the economic benefit to cost ratio; what advice they received from the consultancy OXERA concerning the projected benefit cost ration for HS2; what action they took in response to that advice; and what changes they required HS2 Ltd to make in order to improve this benefit to cost ratio.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
All major infrastructure projects are required to follow the HMT five-case model as outlined in the business case guidance for projects and programmes. The Department for Transport uses a Value for Money Framework to inform its investment decisions.
The Oakervee Review of HS2 commissioned Oxera to carry out sensitivity analysis on the business case for HS2. The outcome of the Oxera analysis is set out in the published Oakervee Review.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government why advice from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority that "The project (HS2) will remain fundamentally flawed unless transparency and frankness is provided to the true level of uncertainty and confidence variations of time, cost and benefits", as reported in the Sunday Times on 22 October, was not provided to Parliament before it approved authorisation for Phase 1 of HS2
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 11 February 2020, the then Prime Minister announced that the Government intended to proceed with HS2. This decision was made having considered the conclusions of the Independent Review of HS2, led by Douglas Oakervee, and an accounting officer assessment that demonstrated the ongoing compliance of the programme with HM Treasury managing public money guidance. This assessment followed four previous assessments undertaken at regular intervals in 2019.
Since the HS2 Phase 1 Notice-to-Proceed decision, comprehensive governance arrangements have been put in place to increase Ministerial oversight, transparency, and accountability of the HS2 project. Since October 2020, the Department has published six-monthly reports to Parliament, while the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s Annual Report includes assessments on HS2. HS2 Ltd is held to account in several ways, including through a monthly Sponsor Board meeting that oversees the company’s performance and reviews the latest Management Information. HS2 Ltd’s Board was also strengthened with new Non-Executive Directors, including a representative from the Department for Transport.
The National Audit Office has published multiple reports examining the delivery of HS2, and the programme is scrutinised by Parliament on a regular basis.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to simplify the licensing regime for mopeds, motorcycles and other forms of powered light vehicle (PLV) within the current parliament.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are no current plans to make changes to the driver licensing regime for these vehicles.