High Speed 2 Railway Line

(asked on 8th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he had discussions with HS2 on the inclusion in (a) the consultation on HS2 Phase 2a of the route (b) a leaflet published by HS2 and sent to relevant residents and businesses the inclusion of a paragraph which states given the extensive consultation already undertaken for Phase 2a and consideration of the scheme by both select committees in Parliament, the Government does not intend to make changes to the Phase 2a scheme or to its planned construction programme in light of this consultation; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Andrew Stephenson Portrait
Andrew Stephenson
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 11th February 2021

No, Ministers did not have discussions with HS2 Ltd on the paragraph included in the Phase 2a consultation and leaflet prior to its publication.

The leaflet published by HS2 Ltd did not accurately set out the purpose of the consultation and how responses will be analysed and considered. I have asked HS2 Ltd to send out an updated leaflet to those residents living within 1km of the route who received the first leaflet to make this clear, making clear that all responses will be carefully considered.

The aim of the Phase 2a consultation is to help the Government understand in more detail the environmental impacts of the scheme on local communities as it takes the scheme forwards, and to identify and implement further mitigation measures. It will also help the Government better understand the concerns of local communities on their local transport provision. Once the responses are analysed the Government will publish a summary report and set out how it proposes to address the issues raised.

Reticulating Splines