Asked by: Ivan Lewis (Independent - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many schedule 16 orders to take temporary possession of land and property were issued by HS2 Ltd in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017, (d) 2018 and (e) 2019.
Answered by Paul Maynard
Up to August 2019, HS2 Ltd has served 2,119 such notices:
(a) 0 notices were served in 2015;
(b) 0 notices were served in 2016;
(c) 343 notices were served over 66 locations in 2017;
(d) 1022 notices were served over 141 locations in 2018;
(e) 754 notices were served over 68 locations in 2019 (up to 01/08/19).
Schedule 16 (S.16) of the High Speed Rail Act (London-West Midlands) Act 2017 provides the nominated undertaker (HS2 Ltd) with the ability to temporarily possess land required to deliver Phase One of the railway. As the Act received Royal Assent on 23 February 2017, HS2 Ltd had no powers to serve S.16 notices before this date.
Asked by: Ivan Lewis (Independent - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff HS2 Limited made redundant in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017, (d) 2018 and (e) 2019.
Answered by Paul Maynard
Between 1 April 2015 to end of August 2019, HS2 Ltd have made a number of organisational changes (including the relocation of HS2 Ltd’s head office to Birmingham). These changes have resulted in a total 115 redundancies – details of which are published in each years’ Annual Report and Accounts. The details of how many people and the costs by financial year are published in HS2 Ltd’s annual report and accounts.
Of the 115 made redundant no one from HS2 Ltd has entered into a Non-Disclosure agreement. However, 31 of these individuals have entered into Settlement Agreements which contain mutual confidentiality obligations to protect individuals’ personal information such as what monies are owed. These obligations do not apply where information is required to be disclosed by law or where a protected disclosure is made by the employee under whistleblowing legislation. It should be noted that no one made redundant from HS2 Ltd has raised any such protected disclosure.
Asked by: Ivan Lewis (Independent - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff made redundant by HS2 Limited in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017, (d) 2018 and (e) 2019 had non-disclosure requirements included in their redundancy settlements.
Answered by Paul Maynard
Between 1 April 2015 to end of August 2019, HS2 Ltd have made a number of organisational changes (including the relocation of HS2 Ltd’s head office to Birmingham). These changes have resulted in a total 115 redundancies – details of which are published in each years’ Annual Report and Accounts. The details of how many people and the costs by financial year are published in HS2 Ltd’s annual report and accounts.
Of the 115 made redundant no one from HS2 Ltd has entered into a Non-Disclosure agreement. However, 31 of these individuals have entered into Settlement Agreements which contain mutual confidentiality obligations to protect individuals’ personal information such as what monies are owed. These obligations do not apply where information is required to be disclosed by law or where a protected disclosure is made by the employee under whistleblowing legislation. It should be noted that no one made redundant from HS2 Ltd has raised any such protected disclosure.
Asked by: Ivan Lewis (Independent - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many section 16 orders were issued by HS2 Ltd in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017, (d) 2018 and (e) 2019.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The Department is unaware of section 16 orders in relation to HS2.
Asked by: Ivan Lewis (Independent - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost has been of the use of section 16 by HS2 Ltd in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017, (d) 2018 and (e) 2019.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The Department is unaware of section 16 orders in relation to HS2.
Asked by: Ivan Lewis (Independent - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total cost of redundancy payments to former HS2 Ltd staff is.
Answered by Paul Maynard
HS2 publish Annual Reports and Accounts which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hs2-annual-reports-and-accounts The Annual Reports and Accounts provide details about the cost of redundancy payments in each year since HS2 Ltd was established.
Asked by: Ivan Lewis (Independent - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many compromise agreements entered into by HS2 Ltd with former staff included non-disclosure provisions.
Answered by Paul Maynard
As of the end of August, a total of 48 former staff have signed Settlement Agreements with HS2 Ltd.
The Settlement Agreements that have been signed all contain mutual confidentiality obligations which protect personal information such as what monies are owed. These obligations do not apply where information is required to be disclosed by law or where a protected disclosure is made by the employee under whistleblowing legislation. It should be noted that no former employee of HS2 Ltd has raised any such protected disclosure.
Before any Settlement Agreement is signed by HS2 Ltd and the employee, a certificate from an independent legal adviser must be provided, evidencing that legal advice has been given to the employee as to the effect of the terms of the Agreement. This process can lead to requests for changes to the template Agreement, which HS2 Ltd accepts where feasible.
As noted in the response to PQ 281612 and PQ 281613, HS2 Ltd has not entered into any Non-Disclosure Agreements with any HS2 employee.
Asked by: Ivan Lewis (Independent - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of settlement agreements entered into by HS2 Ltd with former staff included non-disclosure provisions.
Answered by Paul Maynard
As of the end of August, a total of 48 former staff have signed Settlement Agreements with HS2 Ltd.
The Settlement Agreements that have been signed all contain mutual confidentiality obligations which protect personal information such as what monies are owed. These obligations do not apply where information is required to be disclosed by law or where a protected disclosure is made by the employee under whistleblowing legislation. It should be noted that no former employee of HS2 Ltd has raised any such protected disclosure.
Before any Settlement Agreement is signed by HS2 Ltd and the employee, a certificate from an independent legal adviser must be provided, evidencing that legal advice has been given to the employee as to the effect of the terms of the Agreement. This process can lead to requests for changes to the template Agreement, which HS2 Ltd accepts where feasible.
As noted in the response to PQ 281612 and PQ 281613, HS2 Ltd has not entered into any Non-Disclosure Agreements with any HS2 employee.
Asked by: Ivan Lewis (Independent - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, under what authorised scheme redundancy payments were made to former HS2 Ltd staff.
Answered by Paul Maynard
HS2 Ltd has authorisation to offer redundancies on statutory terms.