Dear Colleague,
Publication of HS2 Parliamentary Report
I am writing to inform you that today I have published the third written update to Parliament on the progress of HS2. This report, which covers data reported by HS2 Ltd to the end of August 2021, provides up-to-date information about its development and achievements over the last six months, as well as the risks and challenges facing the programme. After the publication of the first report in October 2020, this report continues the Government’s ongoing commitment to this six-monthly reporting structure, continuing to keep Parliament abreast on the UK’s largest infrastructure project. We remain within budget and schedule, have hit major construction milestones, made substantial progress with key procurements, and are crucially supporting more jobs than ever before – all demonstrating just how HS2 is central to this Government’s mission to ‘Build Back Better’ from the COVID19 pandemic.
The report can be read in full here.
Highlights of the report include:
• We’re making significant progress on HS2, at the heart of Government plans to Build Back Better. Within budget and on schedule, it is already supporting 20,000 jobs, working with 2,200 businesses, 97% of which are UK based.
• Hitting major construction milestones such as starting construction at Old Oak Common, launching the first tunnel boring machines underneath the Chiltern hills, and commencing early environmental works which marked the first stage in extending the railway from the West Midlands to Crewe;
• In response to a recommendation from the Oakervee Review about looking into the efficiency of the Euston station, the move to a smaller, simpler 10-platform station design at Euston has now been confirmed, which can be built in a single-stage (instead of an 11-platform, two-stage build), and can still support the full operation of the HS2 network.
• Making significant progress on key procurements such as Phase One/2a rail systems packages;
• Announcing the Government’s commitment to deliver a ‘net gain’ to biodiversity for the next Phase of HS2 (Crewe to Manchester);
• Update on costs (including the cost impacts of COVID-19), schedule, and delivery progress.
The report also follows-up on the conclusions of the Land and Property Review published in November 2020. The Review generated a number of proposals intended to transform how people and businesses affected by HS2 are treated. Over half of these proposals have been implemented, double the number implemented at the time of my last report.
I also recently launched a 6-week public consultation to seek views on proposals that required further engagement which will eventually inform policy changes the Government has committed to make. On a project of HS2’s scale, local impacts will unfortunately be unavoidable, but HS2 Ltd needs to ensure that communities are properly informed and consulted and that the impacts are minimised to the extent that is reasonable. To that end, a refreshed HS2 Community Engagement Strategy will be launched, and the DfT’s independent team of Construction Inspectors now act on my behalf to objectively assess community concerns across the lineof-route. With recent protests along the line-of-route, I have also made a strong commitment to ensure that illegal protestor activity is properly dealt with to reduce any potential impacts on cost and schedule, and that safety risks are minimised. The Government is making sure that HS2 Ltd, its supply chain, emergency services and wider Government have a coordinated response to illegal protest.
On environment, as we look to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), I wanted to reiterate the Government’s ambition of building the most sustainable high-speed railway in the world. I am delighted to confirm that HS2 Ltd will soon publish its first Environmental Sustainability Report, which provides a credible account of HS2’s environmental impacts and the important work that is being deployed to mitigate for any adverse effects. Further to my previous commitment to deliver ‘no net loss’ to biodiversity across all Phases, I am pleased that the Government in June confirmed its further commitment to aim to deliver a ‘net gain’ to biodiversity for the next Phase of HS2, the Crewe to Manchester scheme.
Since my appointment as HS2 Minister, I have been committed to ensuring the benefits of HS2 are promoted and realised as widely as possible. As recently announced, I am delighted that HS2 is now supporting 20,000 jobs after one year of main construction, with contracts awarded to over 2,200 businesses, 97 per cent of which are UK-based. At its peak, HS2 will support 34,000 jobs across the programme, 4,000 more than forecast in my last update. The jobs boost comes at a crucial time as the UK strives to ‘Build Back Better’.
