Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the (a) amount spent by HS2 Ltd on helpline call centres in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020 and (iii) 2021 and (b) number of calls dealt with by those centres in each of those years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
(a) In line with the Government’s transparency agenda, HS2 Ltd publishes every payment over £25,000 and all payments over £500 using corporate purchasing cards.
(b) This information is published in HS2 Ltd’s Community Engagement Progress Reports which are available on https://www.hs2.org.uk/document_types/community-engagement-progress-reports/
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the total (a) amount of Job Retention Scheme disbursements paid to HS2 Ltd and (b) number of HS2 Ltd staff furloughed during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
HS2 Ltd did not access the Job Retention Scheme or furlough any staff during 2020-21.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was spent by HS2 Ltd on hosting hospitality events and receptions in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
HS2L does not keep a separate register for hospitality events and receptions but does record all expenditure in the annual report and accounts and discloses all expenditure over £25,000 via transparency reporting on gov.uk
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was spent by HS2 Ltd on gender neutral toilets at HS2 offices in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
HS2L does not keep a separate register for the costs of gender neutral toilets as all expenditure on items such as this would be included in the overall costs of workplace accommodation.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the amount overpaid to staff of HS2 Ltd in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All unrecovered overpayments are published in HS2 Ltd’s annual accounts as part of Losses and special payments. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hs2-annual-reports-and-accounts
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was spent by HS2 Ltd on railcards for staff in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Between 2019 and 2020 there was zero spend on railcards. From April 2021 employees can claim the cost of a railcard (up to £30). One claim has been made to date.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish details of expenditure by HS2 Ltd on artworks in (a) 2019 (b) 2020 and (c) 2021 by (a) cost, (b) name and (c) description of each item.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In line with the Government’s transparency agenda, HS2 Ltd publishes data for all payments over £25,000 and any payments over £500 made using corporate purchasing cards. This information is available on gov.uk
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was spent by HS2 Ltd on real or artificial plants for use in HS2 offices in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In line with the Government’s transparency agenda, HS2 Ltd publishes data for all payments over £25,000 and any payments over £500 made using corporate purchasing cards. This information is available on gov.uk
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was spent by HS2 Ltd on portraits, such as a painting, drawing or engraving of a photographic portrait, or headshots of a person such as a member of staff, in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In line with the Government’s transparency agenda, HS2 Ltd publishes data for all payments over £25,000 and any payments over £500 made using corporate purchasing cards. This information is available on gov.uk
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was spent by HS2 Ltd on alcoholic drinks in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Expense claims for alcoholic drinks are not permitted within the travel and expense policy.