High Speed 2
Debate between Graham Stringer and Andrea Leadsom(5 years, 4 months ago)
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Andrea Leadsom
The hon. Gentleman has raised the issue a number of times, and it is true to say that many think the costs will overrun. I will come back to that.
For me, both as a concerned constituency MP and as someone with 25 years of experience in finance, including project finance, I am alarmed at just how much the business case for HS2 has changed since the project was initially proposed. The business case that HS2 relies on now bears little resemblance to what Parliament was told at the start of the process—if I cast my mind back to when I first became an MP in 2010—nor to what we voted on when the enabling legislation was passed, which I voted against, or when the subsequent main legislation was enacted.
First, we were told that HS2 was about reducing journey times and improving the economy by bringing businesses and workers from the south to the north to spread economic prosperity around the country. Then we were told it was about capacity constraints on the west coast main line, and managing the continual growth in annual passenger numbers. Both arguments no longer stack up.
On improved journey times and associated productivity gains, the underlying assumption built into the business case for HS2 was that any time spent travelling for business purposes was wasted time, and that business travellers undertake no productive work while travelling. In the 21st century, technological advances such as mobile devices and improved wireless internet connections clearly mean that work and leisure activities are increasingly mobile, and increasingly affordable and accessible for rail passengers. Such advances are expected to continue.
Graham Stringer (Blackley and Broughton) (Lab)
I have great respect for the right hon. Lady, but she is fundamentally wrong on this issue, although she is right to criticise the way in which the Department for Transport uses travel times. In the assessment of all transport infrastructure, the Department fails to take into account the economic investment that always follows investment in transport. The case is the opposite of what she is saying: it underestimates the benefits from HS2.
Andrea Leadsom
The hon. Gentleman makes my point for me: the business case needs to be reassessed with accurate underlying factors taken into account. It is the case that the more productivity on trains increases, in particular as faster fifth generation—5G—mobile internet is rolled out across the country, the less valuable the journey time savings are, and therefore the smaller the estimated benefits of HS2 become on those measures.
Business of the House
Debate between Graham Stringer and Andrea Leadsom(6 years, 7 months ago)
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Andrea Leadsom
I absolutely agree with my right hon. Friend, and I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Swansea East (Carolyn Harris), who has campaigned on this subject for a very long time. I think that there is support for the proposal throughout the House, and I will certainly look into it.
Graham Stringer (Blackley and Broughton) (Lab)
Children of my constituents who were sent to the two free schools set up by Raja Miah had a terrible educational experience. The schools were unsafe, there were no computers, children with special educational needs were given no support, and the teaching was of a poor standard. Both schools will be closed by the summer. The main beneficiary of this episode, which involved public expenditure of £13 million, seems to have been Mr Miah. Will the Leader of the House arrange for the Secretary of State for Education to explain, in either a statement or a debate, why he will not release the audit on the two schools, what he is doing to recover the money, and whether he has engaged the police in this matter?
Andrea Leadsom
The hon. Gentleman raises a serious issue and I am very concerned to hear about it. It is obviously of great significance to children in his constituency, and I urge him to seek an Adjournment debate. I am sure that you, Mr Speaker, would look favourably on that.