Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many officials in her Department are working on matters related to High Speed 2; and what the grades of those officials are.

Technical and policy specialists contribute to the Department's work on HS2. Within the core Department a policy team (1 Grade 7 and 1 SEO) co-ordinates input from specialists from across the Department as required. This forms one part of the team’s role.

The Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England (NE) provide input through the roles of the following officials:

3 Grade 7s (2 EA, 1 NE)

1 Grade 6 (EA)

7 SEOs (5 EA, 2 NE)

3 HEOs (1 EA, 2 NE)

In addition, one Grade 7 and two SEOs from the Forestry Commission and members of local EA and NE teams provide specialist advice as required.