Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 15335 on High Speed 2 Line: Complaints, how HS2 Ltd differentiates between enquiries and complaints; and how enquiries are escalated to complaints.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

There is a dedicated HS2 Helpdesk which is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year, to help with any questions or concerns anyone may have about HS2 or work being carried out. It is available via freephone, email, minicom and through the HS2 website. HS2’s Helpdesk team receive, log and track enquiries and complaints through to resolution.

HS2 Ltd defines an enquiry as a question or a request for information about the project, whereas a complaint is where a stakeholder is unhappy about anything HS2 Ltd does, or about anything another company does on their behalf. If a stakeholder makes an enquiry but is unhappy with the outcome, they can request that it is treated as a complaint by contacting the HS2 Helpdesk. If the complaint needs immediate attention (for instance, if it involves a risk to safety, HS2 will always deal with it straight away. In any case, an acknowledgement of the complaint will be issued within two working days of receiving it and HS2 Ltd aim to provide a substantive response within 20 working days.

HS2 Ltd’s complaints process which includes independent reviews from the HS2 Construction Commissioner, DfT Independent Complaints Assessors and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). The full details of the HS2 complaints process are publicly available at https://www.hs2.org.uk/contact-us/how-to-complain/.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to issue an official apology on behalf of the Government to lesbian mothers who had their custody rights affected between the 1970s and 1990s because of their sexuality.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

I have been very saddened to hear accounts from lesbian mothers who have said that their custody rights in earlier decades were affected by their sexuality.

The government is committed to ensuring equality and fairness in today’s justice system.

The legal framework has changed in many ways over the past decades. Following the implementation of the Children Act 1989, where decisions are made about a child or their upbringing, the court’s primary consideration must be the welfare of that child and what will be in their best interests.

The UK has also developed an expansive legal framework to help ensure that LGBT+ people and families are safe, included and protected from discrimination. This includes the introduction of the Equality Act 2010, which protects people from discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Found: Burton-Sampson; Rosie Duffield; Kirith Entwistle; Natalie Fleet; Catherine Fookes; Samantha Niblett; Rachel Taylor

Found: West) Samantha Niblett (Labour; South Derbyshire) Shivani Raja (Conservative; Leicester East) Rachel Taylor

This is a one off session examining issues around gendered Islamophobia.