Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2024 to Question 13063 on High Speed 2 Line: Construction, what information her Department holds on levels of compliance by contractors with the HS2 Environmental Minimum Requirements.

The HS2 Environmental Minimum Requirements contain a range of controls to ensure compliance with (amongst other things) the environmental provisions in the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Act. More information is available in the HS2 Information Paper E1: Control of Environmental Impacts https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a82e5cae5274a2e87dc386e/E1_-_Control_of_Environmental_Impacts_v1.7.pdf

HS2 Ltd publishes regular reports on compliance with the Code of Construction Practice provisions on managing noise, vibration, air quality and dust impacts on local communities. Latest reports are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/monitoring-the-environmental-effects-of-hs2-2024. This is supplemented by annual reports setting out an assessment of how the HS2 programme is affecting the environment, how contractors are reducing their impact and examines progress in setting and meeting environmental controls. These reports are available here: https://www.hs2.org.uk/documents/collections/hs2-environmental-sustainability-progress-reports/

HS2 Ltd is required by the General Principles of the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Environmental Minimum Requirements to report any new significant environmental effects that exceed those which were reported in the Phase 1 Environmental Statement (as amended). A Supplementary Environmental Information report for each case is published on Gov.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sei-reports-for-new-significant-environmental-effects-on-the-hs2-phase-one-route.