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Written Question
High Speed 2 Railway Line
Monday 8th February 2021

Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on land HS2 plans to acquire permanently along the route of HS2 Phase 1 that was not notified to the local residents before the Government's permission for the project to proceed.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Powers to acquire land permanently on Phase One are set out in the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Act 2017. All land and property within the defined borders as set by the Act can be subject to compulsory purchase. Residents are notified of any access, temporary or permanent acquisitions required in line with the Act. The programme of land acquisition is a continuing programme and so too are communications relating to it.


Written Question
Allan Cook
Monday 8th February 2021

Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he was informed that Allan Cook was resigning early as Chairman of HS2 Ltd.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Allan Cook CBE, Chairman of HS2 Ltd, issued his resignation on 31 January 2021. Allan will fulfil his 6-month notice period. I wish to thank Allan for the dedication he has shown in his role of Chairman.

I will set out in due course plans to identify the new Chairperson via an open and fair process.


Written Question
High Speed 2 Railway Line: Construction
Monday 8th February 2021

Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the Environment Agency on the risk of environmental damage caused by HS2 construction work; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Department for Transport officials, HS2 Ltd and its contractors meet regularly with officials at the Environment Agency in relation to delivery of the HS2 works, and to ensure that any environmental risks are suitably mitigated. I also recently met with the Chair of the Environment Agency, as part of my regular engagement with the project’s key stakeholders.


Written Question
High Speed 2 Railway Line
Monday 8th February 2021

Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost is of the (a) policing of and (b) damage and delays to the works caused by the environmental protests along the route of Phase 1 of HS2 to date.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The costs for construction sites to operate safely, including, where necessary, the safe removal of trespassers, form part of existing contracts between HS2 Ltd and its supply chain. Due to the levels of protestor activity experienced, an additional £49 million of security costs across the HS2 project has been expended up to December 2020. The impact to the schedule of trespassers and in some cases concerted vandalism has not yet been fully assessed but we expect this to be within the overall estimated cost range of the project.


Written Question
High Speed Two: Staff
Thursday 4th February 2021

Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people working on the Crossrail project have left that project to take up positions with HS2 Ltd.

Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Crossrail Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London. Crossrail Ltd are responsible for holding the data on how many people working on the Crossrail project have left to take up positions with HS2 Ltd.


Written Question
High Speed Two Railway Line: Construction
Monday 11th January 2021

Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse is of money spent outside the UK in the construction of High Speed Two; and if he will place that information in the Library.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

£8,163,809 has been spent with 23 companies registered outside of the UK. This equates to 0.12% of HS2 Ltd's total spend. These figures show the spend from December 2014 to the end of September 2020.

HS2 Ltd ensures a fair procurement process which complies with UK procurement law, and has an excellent track record of supporting British businesses with over 2,000 businesses delivering work so far on HS2, of which 98% are UK-based, and 70% of which are SMEs.


Written Question
High Speed 2 Railway Line: Trees
Thursday 3rd December 2020

Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what authority the 300 year old oak tree was felled at HS2 Plan 11; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Act 2017 allows the nominated undertaker to carry-out a broad range of ancillary works within Act limits and provides the powers to undertake such felling works anywhere within those limits.

HS2 Ltd takes its environmental responsibilities seriously, and felling is only undertaken where necessary. The schedules of the 2017 Act provide further information, particularly Schedule 2 (works) and Schedule 30 (trees). All Schedules associated with the 2017 Act can be found here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/7/contents/enacted

HS2 Ltd’s aim is to protect the environment wherever possible, and to do more than just mitigate in the areas where it is constructing the railway. Along the route HS2 will leave behind richer, more diverse and better connected wildlife habitats. Up to 7 million trees will eventually be planted along Phase One, with many new recreational areas for communities to enjoy. Of the 43 ancient woodlands affected by HS2’s route between London and Crewe, 80% of the total area will remain intact and not impacted.


Written Question
Transport: Technology
Monday 16th November 2020

Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of implementing a hyperloop transport system through the High Speed Two project.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Hyperloop is at an early stage of development and significant technological challenges have to be overcome before an operational system can be constructed and carry passengers.

In 2017 the Department for Transport’s Science Advisory Council (SAC) published a position statement on Hyperloop which noted that “because of the scale of the technical challenges involved, an operational Hyperloop system is likely to be at least a couple of decades away.” Officials in the Department continue to monitor Hyperloop research very closely. They do not believe that there have been any developments in the last three years that might cast doubt on the SAC’s 2017 assessment.

The Department for Transport conducted a detailed investigation last year into the feasibility of constructing a high-speed Maglev link in the UK. Its conclusion was that whilst Maglev is a promising technology, there are still several obstacles which, at present, put it at a disadvantage compared to high speed rail.


Written Question
Transport: Technology
Monday 16th November 2020

Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the (a) maglev and (b) hyperloop transport systems; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Hyperloop is at an early stage of development and significant technological challenges have to be overcome before an operational system can be constructed and carry passengers.

In 2017 the Department for Transport’s Science Advisory Council (SAC) published a position statement on Hyperloop which noted that “because of the scale of the technical challenges involved, an operational Hyperloop system is likely to be at least a couple of decades away.” Officials in the Department continue to monitor Hyperloop research very closely. They do not believe that there have been any developments in the last three years that might cast doubt on the SAC’s 2017 assessment.

The Department for Transport conducted a detailed investigation last year into the feasibility of constructing a high-speed Maglev link in the UK. Its conclusion was that whilst Maglev is a promising technology, there are still several obstacles which, at present, put it at a disadvantage compared to high speed rail.


Written Question
High Speed 2 Railway Line: Government Assistance
Monday 16th November 2020

Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the value is of the (a) rent-free working space and (b) commercial and technical support being given by the Government through the High Speed Two project to (i) Digital Rail, (ii) Hypervine, (iii) Rail Diary, (iv) Grid Smarter Cities and (v) Open Space.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The HS2 accelerator is a programme to support innovation in UK-registered Small Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) working on HS2. HS2 Ltd does this through its lead innovation partner, the Connected Places Catapult (CPC), an independent research organisation set up as a not-for-profit entity, part funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

SMEs are selected for the HS2 Accelerator programme after applying to an open competition call that sets out some of the specific innovation challenges experienced by HS2. It is advertised nationally through multiple channels in line with industry standards for accelerator programmes.

Selected organisations participate in the Accelerator on a voluntary basis and receive no direct financial benefit. Desk space and meeting rooms are made available by CPC in Birmingham when needed for training, business development advice and meetings with HS2 Ltd. It is not possible to calculate the monetary value associated with the future ad-hoc use of this resource. This resource is not in lieu of any existing arrangements the SMEs may have in place. The value of HS2 Ltd’s contract with CPC is £390k, and we are working with 10 UK SME companies.