Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the expected completion date of the current phase of HS2.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Mark Wild, the new Chief Executive of HS2, is undertaking a comprehensive reset of the Programme which will provide a realistic budget and schedule to deliver the remaining works.
Given the complexity of conducting a reset whilst maintaining in-flight delivery, sufficient time must be given to accurately inform a robust range of when HS2 services will commence. The Department will update Parliament once this work is completed.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much taxpayer money in total has been spent on HS2 since its inception to the latest date for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department regularly reports on HS2 expenditure through 6-monthly reports to Parliament. As we set out in the latest report published in July 2025, the total overall costs incurred up to the end of April 2025 on HS2 are £40.5 billion (in nominal prices), including expenditure on the former Phase 2.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have produced a final design for accommodating HS2 at Euston Station; and if not, when they expect to.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department is working with key partners to develop affordable, integrated plans for the Euston Station Campus, which will comprise the new HS2 station, upgrades to the Network Rail station and enhancements to the London Underground station and local transport facilities along with a significant level of development. Significant progress has been made and we will set out more details in due course.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they reimburse the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for assistance with boats bringing migrants across the Channel; and, if so, what is the basis for that reimbursement; and what is the total cost to date.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
HM Government does not reimburse the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) for any Search and Rescue (SAR) activity and does not differentiate the SAR response to small boats crossing the Channel from any other type of SAR.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many farms have lost land to, or been affected by, the route of HS2.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
HS2 records show 346 farms were included within both Acts of Parliament. These Farms will be impacted to varying degrees, including through loss of land due to acquisition or other effects, such as impacts to access or impacts from noise.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many houses have been compulsorily purchased along the route of HS2, and how many have been demolished.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
HS2 Ltd does not categorise properties by type - i.e. ‘houses’ - as a property can have mixed usage. For example, a farm can be (or have within it properties which are) residential, commercial, and/or agricultural, and similarly, a pub can be (and often is) both residential and commercial.
HS2 Ltd does record the number of property compensation claims made, however, the quantity of claims does not indicate how many houses (or other properties) have been acquired because property arrangements are highly varied.
HS2 Ltd does record the amount of land that has been acquired. To date, approximately 56km2 of land has been acquired for Phases One and 2a through compulsory purchase. No land or properties have been compulsory purchased along the route of Phase 2b as HS2 Ltd has never had the legal powers to do so.
In respect to demolitions, HS2 records show that 332 structures have been or were scheduled to be demolished along the route of HS2. It should be noted that this figure is not limited to properties but includes other structures such as substations and bridges.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government why and when they authorised the use of cost-plus instead of fixed-price contracts for payment of contractors on HS2; what consultations they held prior to the change; and who authorised that change.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
This government has been clear that the position on HS2 is totally unacceptable for passengers and taxpayers. It is acknowledged by this government and new CEO Mark Wild that the past contractual performance of our delivery partners has failed to meet cost and schedule expectations.
We have taken action to grip the project and tasked Mark Wild to reset the project, including reforming and resetting the relationship with the supply chain, and to deliver Phase 1 safely and at the lowest reasonable cost.
Throughout the development of the HS2 programme there has been engagement with industry, and input sought from wider government stakeholders, to seek to ensure that the commercial approaches and contracts adopted are appropriate for the individual assets being delivered. Consequently, a variety of different contract forms are in use across the HS2 programme including both fixed price and defined cost contracts (similar to cost plus), as well as other contract forms. For example, HS2 Ltd’s Main Works Civils Contracts (MWCC) are defined cost, incentivised, two-stage design and build contracts based on the NEC 3 Option C target cost contract model. Such NEC contracts are in common usage throughout the UK construction industry as they provide flexibility and encourage a collaborative approach.
Notice to Proceed was granted on HS2 Ltd’s Phase One Main Works Contracts in 2020. At that time there was no prospect of determining a reliable fixed price, nor getting the supply chain to agree to such a model given the residual risk. Therefore fixed price contracts were not viewed as viable.
As with all procurement activity on HS2, these contracts were let in line with HS2 Ltd’s governance and assurance requirements which conform with UK procurement law.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether owners of property purchased for the route of HS2 were required to enter non-disclosure agreements as a condition for receiving compensation, if so why, and who authorised this.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
It is not a condition of receiving compensation for property purchased on the HS2 route that the owner must enter into a non-disclosure agreement.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much the HS2 project has cost to date; what estimate they have made of the cost of completing the project; and when they anticipate that it will be completed.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
This Government inherited an exceptionally bad position at HS2, and has been working hard to grip HS2’s spiralling costs and has tasked HS2 Ltd’s CEO with conducting a comprehensive review of the programme, including assessing the current position on cost and schedule. He will provide advice for government to assess leading to agreeing a reset budget in 2026.
As reported in the last HS2 report to Parliament in December 2024, overall spend to date was £30.2 billion (2019 prices). An update will be provided in the next report to Parliament.
The date for delivery of initial HS2 services between Birmingham Curzon Street and Old Oak Common by 2033 remains, but there are significant pressures on this schedule.
We will report to Parliament once we have agreed a revised estimate for cost and schedule.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of completing the first phase of HS2; and what is the projected completion date.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
As set out in the Network North command paper, for the historic Phase 1 scope DfT officials have estimated a provisional range of £45 billion to £54 billion.
Given these cost assessments were made before the decision was taken to cancel Phase 2, the Department has asked HS2 Ltd to consider the revised scope of the project and provide an action plan on how it will deliver this at the lowest reasonable cost. We will be able to provide more information in due course.
Delivery remains on track for the initial high-speed services between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham Curzon Street by 2029 to 2033. An updated delivery-into-service range for services to Euston will be provided in due course.