Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2019 to Question 206432, whether he plans to hold a further route refinement consultation in relation to the High Speed Two Phase 2b route this year.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Secretary of State explained in his statement to the House on 11 October 2018, that he expects to consult on further potential changes to Phase 2b in 2019, including some to facilitate Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2019 to Question 205987 on High Speed 2, when he plans to publish the barn owl mitigation plan.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
HS2 Ltd has been working closely with stakeholders and experts to develop the barn owl mitigation plan, which they plan to publish early this year.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timeframe is for the publication on the High Speed Two website of statistics on applications received for the High Speed Two (a) phase one and (b) phase two (i) Exceptional Hardship Scheme and (ii) Need to Sell Scheme up to 30 November 2018.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
This information was placed on the HS2 website on 09/01/19 and can be viewed here:
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the comments by Pete Waterman, Chairman of the Cheshire and Warrington Local Transport Board on 31 December 2018, whether he plans to increase the number of High Speed Two trains stopping at Crewe station to seven an hour; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Crewe Hub consultation response, published in March 2018, confirmed the Government’s support for the vision of a Crewe Hub.
Fully realising the Crewe Hub vision will also require a junction north of Crewe back to the HS2 mainline to Manchester, as part of Phase 2b.
As set out in the March 2018 Consultation Response, this would allow 5-7 HS2 trains per hour to call at Crewe.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the statement by Pete Waterman, Chairman of the Cheshire and Warrington Local Transport Board published on 31 December 2018, what plans he has for the tunnel and junction at Crewe North and the Golborne Link near Warrington, and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The HS2 Phase 2b route was confirmed in the July 2017 Command Paper, ‘High Speed Two: from Crewe to Manchester, West Midlands to Leeds and beyond’, including a tunnel at Crewe and the Golborne link at Warrington.
Any junction north of Crewe back to the HS2 mainline to Manchester will be considered separately as part of Crewe Hub decision making.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which local authorities have entered into non-disclosure agreements with High Speed Two Limited.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
HS2 Ltd has entered into non-disclosure agreements – also known as confidentiality agreements - with a number of local authorities to enable the sharing of confidential or commercially sensitive information in connection with the delivery of HS2.
Disclosure concerning those agreements is subject to obligations of confidentiality but, to the extent I can identify local authorities, the following have entered into such agreements:
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
Warwickshire County Council
Staffordshire County Council
Lichfield District Council
Stafford Borough Council
Cheshire East Council
Shropshire Council
Bolsover District Council
Erewash Borough Council
Trafford Borough Council
Cheshire East Council
Nottingham City Council
North East Derbyshire District Council
Bolsover District Council
Rushcliffe Borough Council
North Yorkshire County Council
Doncaster Borough Council
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
Chesterfield Borough Council
Leeds City Council
Council of the City of Wakefield
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough council
North West Leicestershire District Council
Nottinghamshire County Council
Cheshire West & Chester Council
Warwickshire County Council
Tamworth Borough Council
Newcastle Under Lyme Borough Council
Stoke City Council;
Warrington Borough Council; and
Derbyshire County Council
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2018 to Question 108776 on High Speed 2, whether the barn owl mitigation plan has been published.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
HS2 Ltd’s Barn Owl Mitigation Plan has not been published to date.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2018 to Question 126104 on High Speed 2, what progress has been made on the introduction of the prolonged disturbance compensation scheme and; if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
HS2 Ltd have developed proposals for the Prolonged Disturbance Compensation Scheme, for those who are likely to be particularly affected by HS2 construction work. These proposals were shared with local authorities in February 2018 and with local communities in June-July 2018 by way of engagement workshops held across the Phase One line of route. HS2 Ltd are reviewing the draft scheme in light of feedback received in response to the community and local authority engagement. The intention is to launch the scheme as soon as practicable.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2018 to Question 140171 on High Speed 2, how many (a) targeted workshops and (b) surgery sessions HS2 Ltd has undertaken since 9 May 2018.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
No targeted workshops or surgery sessions have been held specifically on the HS2 Need to Sell (NTS) scheme since 9 May 2018.
Guidance has been given on all HS2 property support schemes – including the NTS scheme - at general HS2 events. This includes over thirty public information events held by HS2 Ltd across the Phase 2b route during June and July this year.
In addition, two land and property focused surgeries were held by HS2 Ltd in the Whitmore area on 15 August and 15 September. Individual sessions with residents were held, which included discussion on land and property compensation scheme options.
HS2 Ltd continues to consider areas of the route which may benefit from targeted workshops and surgery sessions on the NTS scheme where acceptance rates are lower than average.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the most recent acceptance rate was for Need to Sell applications for phase 2b of High Speed 2.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The current acceptance rate for Need to Sell applications for phase 2b of High Speed 2 is 31%. Further Need to Sell statistics for all phases of High Speed 2 can be found on the Gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hs2-phase-one-exceptional-hardship-scheme-applications-statistics.