Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
What progress his Department has made in trialling e-scooters.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
E-scooter trials are progressing well. Legal changes were made in June, twenty trials are now live and supporting the green recovery across the country.
Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of the proposals for a mined tunnel in Wendover; and if he will publish the results of that assessment.
Answered by Grant Shapps
The Wendover Mined Tunnel was considered in detail during the passage of the Phase One Bill in both the Commons and Lords committees. Cost comparisons of the consented scheme and the tunnelled alternatives were considered in evidence to both committees during the Bill process and the primary conclusion was that the now consented scheme would be less expensive than the tunnelled alternatives.
Since then, DfT officials and HS2 Ltd have been challenged by Wendover Parish Council and your predecessor, Sir David Lidington, over these decisions and have presented further reports by OTB and Michael Byng (mbpc) challenging the consented scheme.
In each instance, it has been concluded that the Wendover Mined Tunnel would be harder to construct, is costlier and involves a significantly greater degree of risk to the consented scheme.
The Department and HS2 Ltd remain convinced that the Select Committee made the right decision when they accepted that there was a significant difference in cost between the mined alternative schemes and concluded that the HS2 Ltd scheme should be retained.
Even if the alternative mined schemes were broadly comparable in these respects, the subsequent costs of seeking legislative consent for the detailed design change and the consequential cost of delaying the introduction of HS2 services do not represent good value for money or an effective use of public money.
Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the hydrological effect of the construction of the green tunnel at Wendover on the potential risk of flooding in Aylesbury.
Answered by Grant Shapps
The Environmental Statement assessed the impact of the scheme on Water Resources (Volume 5 WR-002-010) in the Wendover area and specifically the impact of the green tunnel construction on water receptors.
HS2 Ltd advises that the scheme is now entering the detailed design phase. My officials will respond to you shortly with further details on this matter.
Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that valid compensation claims by (a) residents and (b) businesses are paid on time and in full by HS2 Ltd.
Answered by Grant Shapps
The High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) 2017 Act sets out the compensation arrangements for the compulsory purchase and temporary possession of land and property on Phase One of the route. The Secretary of State has also introduced a range of statutory and non-statutory property compensation schemes across the three phases of HS2 to support people and businesses affected by the programme. In applying all the property compensation schemes, HS2 Ltd aims to ensure that the compensation arrangements adhere to the Compensation Code. The Code provides for the payment of fair compensation to property owners whose land is acquired as part of HS2.
HS2 Ltd applies the standards set out in the Compensation Code and its own internal targets for the payment and completion of compensation claims. Their performance is monitored and overseen by the HS2 Ltd Executive in accordance with the published HS2 Development Agreement and the HS2 Ltd Framework Document.
However, as the Prime Minister announced earlier this month, going forwards, there will be changes to the way HS2 is managed. A Minister will be given the full-time job to oversee the project and I am clear of the need for the Company to continue to raise its game in how it treats communities affected by the project along its line of route.
Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether staff employed by the Oakervee Review secretariat were seconded from (a) his Department, (a) other Government Departments and (c) executive agencies.
Answered by Paul Maynard
As set out in the terms of reference for the review, the secretariat was provided by the Department for Transport.
Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the conclusions of the Oakervee review into HS2 were reached following a full debate and voting by all members of the review panel.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The Oakervee Review’s Terms of Reference set by ministers state that panel members will feed in to and be consulted on the report’s conclusions and make clear that members do not have veto arrangements. We expect that Doug Oakervee will set out the views of the Panel and Deputy Chair in respect of his report which we have committed to publish.