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.

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/.