Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans HS2 Ltd and its contractors have to recruit workers from overseas.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
HS2 Ltd has offices based in Birmingham and London and over 95% of the HS2 supply chain is UK based.
HS2 Ltd and their main contractors plan their strategic workforce based on the requirements of the project. HS2 Ltd and its supply chain are required to think through the implications of skills shortages and the talent marketplace. Whilst the market remains competitive, thanks to the growing pipeline of major projects HS2 is benefitting from the growing skills base in the UK from the Olympics, Crossrail, and Tideway, and a host of Highways England and Network Rail projects.
HS2 Ltd and its supply chain have to comply with all immigration laws and assure that the workforce has the relevant right to work in the UK.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has with Transport for London on the timescale for when Crossrail will be fully operational; and what the status is of that project.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department has regular discussions with Transport for London, regarding the timescales for when Crossrail will be fully operational.
In January, Crossrail Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London, announced that it planned to open the central section of the railway in summer 2021 and the full Elizabeth line by mid-2022.
On March 24, Crossrail ceased all physical work at its construction sites, in line with TfL’s decision to pause work on project sites during the covid-19 pandemic.
Works have now restarted as part of Crossrail’s Recovery Plan, which will include an update of cost and schedule forecasts.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to allow local authorities to borrow against future Community Infrastructure Levy receipts to invest in infrastructure to help unlock housing growth.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Regulations 2010 (as amended) do not permit local authorities who charge CIL to borrow against the value of future receipts to invest in infrastructure, with the exception of the Mayor of London.
Regulations introduced in 2019 permit the Mayor of London to borrow against any future income generated by the Mayoral CIL charge and use the receipts collected to repay the loan value. This is specifically for funding relating to Crossrail.
Whilst local charging authorities are not permitted to borrow against the levy receipts, they may use the Levy to repay any expenditure on infrastructure that has already been incurred, under Regulation 60.
Presently, there are no plans to amend the existing Regulations to allow local authorities to borrow against any future receipts to invest in infrastructure to unlock housing growth.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve accessibility for disabled people using the rail network.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Access for All Programme has been extended across CP6 with an additional £350m of funding, making a total of £383m available to the programme up until 2024. This will deliver more than 100 accessible step free routes and smaller scale access improvements at another 124 stations.
This is in addition to access improvements delivered by major projects such as Crossrail and HS2 or when the industry installs, replaces or renews station infrastructure.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the latest cost estimate for Crossrail 2; and what proportion of its revenue is expected to come from passengers using HS2 at Euston.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Crossrail 2 is at an early stage of scheme development. The Government, Transport for London and Network Rail are currently working to refine the cost estimates for Crossrail 2, to reflect the findings of the Independent Affordability Review, ahead of a Spending Review. Cost estimates will become available once that work is completed and scheme development has reached an appropriate level of maturity. Revenue numbers at this level of detail are not available at this stage.
However, current analysis estimates that 50,000 passengers in total would board and alight Crossrail 2 services at Euston in the 2041 morning peak period (0700 to 1000). This represents approximately 10% of the total Crossrail 2 demand and around a fifth of Crossrail 2 passengers at Euston are expected to be using HS2 services.
These projections are regularly updated as part of ongoing updates to TfL’s forecasting models, and Crossrail 2’s business case analysis.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent (a) discussions and (b) meetings (a) ministers and (b) officials in his Department has had with representatives of (i) First Group and (ii) MTR Crossrail on the (A) financial viability and (B) performance of the South Western Railways rail franchise; and if he will publish the names of the attendees of those members.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
South Western Railway is owned by First Group and MTR Europe.
The Department holds regular meetings with all franchise owning groups. These cover a wide range of topics, including financial and performance matters. These meetings involve officials at all levels from within the Department.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on the Crossrail 2 project; and what the status of that project is.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government recognises that Crossrail 2 could provide a crucial solution to address capacity issues on London’s rail and tube networks, while also improving connectivity across London and the South East.
I am keen to see a realistic and achievable 50% funding proposal from London regarding Crossrail 2. Officials continue to work with TfL on this funding proposal and the next steps for the project.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of delays to Crossrail on the viability of the Crossrail to Ebbsfleet infrastructure proposal.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has not made any recent assessment of proposals for transport enhancements between Abbey Wood and Ebbsfleet as these remain under development.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Mayor of London on the further delays to Crossrail.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Transport has regular discussions with Transport for London and Crossrail Limited regarding the Crossrail project.
On 10 January 2020, Crossrail Limited issued its latest update on progress to complete the Elizabeth line and confirmed that it plans to open the central section between Paddington and Abbey Wood in summer 2021.
Although progress is being made, Crossrail Limited have been clear that risks and uncertainties remain across the programme. Crossrail Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the capacity relief created at Waterloo station from the proposed crossrail 2 project.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Crossrail 2 could provide transformational uplifts in capacity, connectivity, and quality of life for those travelling into and across London from the South West Main Line (SWML). The scheme could help to ease pressure at Waterloo, potentially reducing national rail arrivals by more than 15% across the three-hour weekday morning peak.