Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of steps taken by engineering companies involved in high speed 2 to ensure participation of women in engineering; and if he will make a statement.

HS2 Ltd is an award winning employer in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion and is recognised as a sector leader in relation to exemplar equality, diversity and inclusion practices. HS2 Ltd’s engineering staff sit within the Construction and Infrastructure directorates. As of February 2020, women represented 27 and 29 percent of these directorates respectively, compared to averages of 13 and 17 percent in the wider construction and infrastructure sectors. (In February 2020, 37 percent of HS2 Ltd’s total employees were women.)

HS2 Ltd sets stringent equality, diversity and inclusion requirements for the supply chain which are monitored at each stage of the procurement process and results are reported bi-annually. Currently, the representation of women on all major HS2 contracts exceeds industry averages. HS2 Ltd also publishes the EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) annual report which is available on the HS2 Ltd website (www.gov.uk/hs2).