Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the budget for the A2/M2 Connected Corridor project for 2018–2020 including the cost of (1) consultants, and (2) feasibility studies, both within the budget and including those covered by (i) other budgets, or (ii) EU funding.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The final overall cost, including all feasibility studies, consultancy and contractor costs, was £9.5 million of which £3.5 million was received from the European Union Connecting Europe Facility fund.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent actions have been taken by HS2 Ltd and contractors EKFB to ensure that they satisfy legal obligations to consider all reasonable and practical alternatives to mitigate the impact of the HS2 Phase One route at Wendover.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are no legal obligations on HS2 Ltd to consider alternative proposals from third parties following Royal Assent.
The Phase One scheme was extensively discussed and scrutinised in both Houses, and during the committee stage of the Bill process, before the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Act 2017 received Royal Assent.
However, HS2 Ltd and EKFB continue to engage with those affected by the works are currently developing the detailed design following the best practice approaches agreed with Qualifying Authorities as set out in HS2 Planning Forum Notes.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent assessment has been made of the effect of HS2 Phase One construction and operation at Wendover on (1) local transport infrastructure, (2) permitted noise levels, (3) air quality, and (4) the Site of Special Scientific Interest at Weston Turville Reservoir.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Information, reports, and studies which monitor the environmental effects of constructing HS2 are published online and updated monthly and annually. They include reports on air quality, dust, noise and vibration. The Phase One Environmental Statement as published reports the likely significant effects (as a likely worst case) of the broad range of environmental impacts along the route of the new railway on Wendover.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what alternative noise and environmental mitigation proposals have been agreed by HS2 Ltd and EKFB to the consented scheme on HS2 Phase One at Wendover following recent discussions with local authorities and stakeholder groups.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
HS2 Ltd continues to work within the powers of the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Act 2017 and the mitigations specified within it, which were subject to extensive Parliamentary scrutiny in respect of all areas in Phase One.
The approach used for Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Assessment is to use worst case scenarios. The HS2 Environmental Minimum Requirements are then in place to allow effective measures to be developed and implemented to further reduce impacts.
Detailed design work is ongoing, and indicative mitigation proposals are subject to approvals through schedule 17 of the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Act 2017. They are made public through this process. Earlier this year, the Wendover Dean Viaduct was the subject of the first such application made and was approved in May 2021, and indicative mitigation proposals for the remainder of works in Wendover will follow in future applications. At Wendover Dean Viaduct, optimisation of the viaduct design since the hybrid Bill has led to an environmentally significant reduction in forecast noise levels which has removed a significant effect reported in the Environmental Statement.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether new alternative noise and environmental mitigation solutions at Wendover on HS2 Phase One will be considered by HS2 Ltd and EKFB.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
HS2 civils contractor EKFB is undertaking the detailed design of noise and environmental mitigation. HS2 Ltd and EKFB continue to engage with those affected by the works to understand and engage with their concerns. They are currently developing the detailed design following the best practice approaches agreed with Qualifying Authorities set out in HS2 Planning Forum Notes.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of (1) progress, and (2) construction costs, of the current consented HS2 Phase One scheme at Wendover.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government assesses HS2 Ltd progress in delivering the Phase One railway, including the section at Wendover, on a monthly basis. The delivery of the new railway in the Wendover area, and across the Phase One route, remains within both the budget and schedule estimates provided at the point of Notice to Proceed in April 2020, following the reset of the project in February 2020. More detailed cost and schedule information can be found in the HS2 Minister’s last six-monthly update to Parliament published on 23 March 2021.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a decision was made to restrict EKFB’s design scope to the surface scheme solely as it passed Wendover on HS2 Phase One; and if so (1) on what date the decision was taken, (2) who took the decision, and (3) whether Wendover is the only location on HS2 Phase One that EKFB were prevented from seeking cost savings and engineering efficiencies.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Transport has made no decision or instruction, to either HS2 Ltd or to EKFB, to restrict EKFB from seeking cost savings or engineering efficiencies in relation to any part of the route, including Wendover. In accordance with Lord Ahmad’s statement to the House of Lords on 24 January 2017, HS2 contractors were advised to identify efficiencies within the limits of the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Act 2017
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they required HS2 Ltd to produce a rigorous assessment of costs in relation to alternative proposals for a short-mined tunnel at Wendover on HS2 Phase One.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In 2017 the Department for Transport asked HS2 Ltd to assess an alternative mined tunnel proposal produced by a third party with the support of local stakeholders. HS2 Ltd’s response included a comparative assessment which highlighted where HS2 Ltd disputed the costs put forward in the proposal. HS2 Ltd’s assessment concluded that the costs of the proposal were underestimated. This assessment was supplied to David Lidington MP in December 2017 and Rob Butler MP in March 2020.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their latest estimate of the costs and construction time of the current consented scheme at Wendover on HS2 Phase One.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The cost of delivering the new railway is spread across a number of contracts that cover different geographical areas. For Wendover this includes Enabling Works (Fusion JV for Colne Valley to Long Itchington), Main Civil Works (EKFB for Chilterns Tunnel North Portal to Long Itchington Tunnel South Portal) and railway systems contracts (separate route-wide contracts including signalling, rails, track bed, and overhead line equipment).
HS2 Ltd does not routinely apply cost apportionment on the basis of geographical sections, as cost and schedule control measures are applied to the contractors delivering specific requirements or assets which will typically sit across geographical boundaries.
However, the delivery of the new railway in the Wendover area, and across the Phase One route, remains within both the budget and schedule estimates provided at the point of Notice to Proceed in April 2020.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have received any formal requests to undertake a cost and construction assessment of the alternative proposal to build a short-mined tunnel at Wendover on HS2 Phase One.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Transport has received successive requests to assess the Wendover short-mined tunnel proposal. The Department considered the proposal on the basis of assessments conducted by HS2 Ltd in 2017 and by independent consultants in 2018.