Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the report on HS2 published by Lord Berkeley on 5 January 2020, what recent assessment he has made of (a) the accuracy of the estimated cost benefit ratio of between 0.6 and 1 and (b) the value for money of the estimated cost of £107billion at 2019 detailed in that report.

The Secretary of State commissioned the Oakervee Review to provide advice on how and whether to proceed with HS2, including examining the project’s costs and benefit. Doug Oakervee’s report will inform our assessment of the estimated cost if the Government decided to proceed. We will of course give appropriate consideration to Lord Berkeley’s personal views.