Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the value for money of HS2 Ltd's £8,086,998 annual spend on communications and community engagement.

An estimated 2.4 million people live within five miles of the HS2 route in rural areas, and within one mile in urban areas, across 58 local authorities and 75 parliamentary constituencies. Specialist teams in HS2 Ltd engage with communities and stakeholders across 200 miles of the proposed route to help ensure that there is a level of understanding and transparency around the impacts of construction on those affected. Similarly, HS2 Ltd’s 24-hour Helpdesk responds to around 30,000 enquiries a year, and the HS2 website (www.hs2.org.uk) received over 1.9 million visits in 2022.

The Department for Transport monitors all HS2 Ltd expenditure in order to ensure value for money for the taxpayer.