Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the expected completion date of the current phase of HS2.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Mark Wild, the new Chief Executive of HS2, is undertaking a comprehensive reset of the Programme which will provide a realistic budget and schedule to deliver the remaining works.
Given the complexity of conducting a reset whilst maintaining in-flight delivery, sufficient time must be given to accurately inform a robust range of when HS2 services will commence. The Department will update Parliament once this work is completed.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much taxpayer money in total has been spent on HS2 since its inception to the latest date for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department regularly reports on HS2 expenditure through 6-monthly reports to Parliament. As we set out in the latest report published in July 2025, the total overall costs incurred up to the end of April 2025 on HS2 are £40.5 billion (in nominal prices), including expenditure on the former Phase 2.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have produced a final design for accommodating HS2 at Euston Station; and if not, when they expect to.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department is working with key partners to develop affordable, integrated plans for the Euston Station Campus, which will comprise the new HS2 station, upgrades to the Network Rail station and enhancements to the London Underground station and local transport facilities along with a significant level of development. Significant progress has been made and we will set out more details in due course.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 17 September (HL Deb col 2288) that there are provisions for paying a fair price for compulsory purchases, what are those provisions.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to his Question UIN HL10400 on 23 September 2025. In addition to the open market value of the acquired land in the absence of the scheme, owners and tenants are entitled to loss payment compensation for the distress and inconvenience of having to move from their property at a time not of their choosing and to claim compensation for disturbance (i.e. losses unconnected to the value of property such as professional fees).
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many ombudsman bodies exist in the United Kingdom; and who is responsible for their funding.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office is responsible for a subset of public bodies administratively classified as Arm's-Length Bodies, which include Executive Agencies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, and Non-Ministerial Departments.
There is no statutory definition of "ombudsman" in government, and bodies with varying functions can be labelled as ombudsman
Data on which ALBs are ombudsman bodies, or how they are funded, is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what were the running costs of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration in the first full year of operation following its establishment; what were the annual running costs for the latest year for which figures are available; and what has been the total cost since its inception.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government does not hold information on the running costs of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration which was established in 1967 and was superseded by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) in 1973. Information on the running costs of the PHSO are set out in its published annual reports and accounts. The running costs for the years for which the PHSO holds information are as follows:
Year: | Running Costs (£ million): |
2004-2005 | 19,203 |
2005-2006 | 22,263 |
2006-2007 | 22,679 |
2007-2008 | 24,252 |
2008-2009 | 26,056 |
2009-2010 | 33,211 |
2010-2011 | 33,038 |
2011-2012 | 33,039 |
2012-2013 | 33,204 |
2013-2014 | 34,793 |
2014-2015 | 36,809 |
2015-2016 | 30,492 |
2016-2017 | 34,646 |
2017-2018 | 29,427 |
2018-2019 | 27,201 |
2019-2020 | 29,197 |
2020-2021 | 29,486 |
2021-2022 | 32,499 |
2022-2023 | 40,543 |
2023-2024 | 42,032 |
2024-2025 | 41,513 |
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to change the rules on the compulsory purchase of land for infrastructure projects such as HS2 so that farmers receive 100 per cent of the land value rather than 90 per cent.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The overriding principle of compulsory purchase compensation is ‘equivalence’, so that landowners are left neither better nor worse off (at least in monetary terms) as a result of their land being compulsorily acquired.
Compulsory purchase compensation is based on the open market value of the land acquired in the absence of the scheme, for example, regeneration project or railway line, underlying the compulsory purchase. This is known as the “no scheme principle”. Under the no-scheme principle, any increases or decreases in the value of the land attributable to the compulsory purchase scheme, or the prospect of the scheme, are disregarded when assessing compensation for the value of land acquired. The Government has no plans to change this principle.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they reimburse the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for assistance with boats bringing migrants across the Channel; and, if so, what is the basis for that reimbursement; and what is the total cost to date.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
HM Government does not reimburse the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) for any Search and Rescue (SAR) activity and does not differentiate the SAR response to small boats crossing the Channel from any other type of SAR.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many farms have lost land to, or been affected by, the route of HS2.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
HS2 records show 346 farms were included within both Acts of Parliament. These Farms will be impacted to varying degrees, including through loss of land due to acquisition or other effects, such as impacts to access or impacts from noise.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many houses have been compulsorily purchased along the route of HS2, and how many have been demolished.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
HS2 Ltd does not categorise properties by type - i.e. ‘houses’ - as a property can have mixed usage. For example, a farm can be (or have within it properties which are) residential, commercial, and/or agricultural, and similarly, a pub can be (and often is) both residential and commercial.
HS2 Ltd does record the number of property compensation claims made, however, the quantity of claims does not indicate how many houses (or other properties) have been acquired because property arrangements are highly varied.
HS2 Ltd does record the amount of land that has been acquired. To date, approximately 56km2 of land has been acquired for Phases One and 2a through compulsory purchase. No land or properties have been compulsory purchased along the route of Phase 2b as HS2 Ltd has never had the legal powers to do so.
In respect to demolitions, HS2 records show that 332 structures have been or were scheduled to be demolished along the route of HS2. It should be noted that this figure is not limited to properties but includes other structures such as substations and bridges.