Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of extending the potential economic benefits of extending High Speed 2 to Colchester.

HS2 will help to promote economic growth and drive regional regeneration by bringing our major cities closer together, supporting job creation across the country and deliver around £2 of benefits for every £1 spent.

The Department has not assessed the potential economic benefits of extending HS2 to Colchester.

Only last Monday (7th July) Government announced the first instalment of plans to invest at least £12billion in local economies across England in a series of Growth Deals, between 2015/16 and 2020/21.

As part of their Growth Deal the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (which includes Essex as well as Thurrock, Southend, Kent, Medway and East Sussex) has secured some £442 million to support economic growth in the area – with £64 million of new funding confirmed for 2015/16.

As part of this allocation there is £2m for a programme of sustainable transport measures in Colchester, alongside a further £10m for integrated transport packages in the Town Centre. This is on top of a provisional allocation in the region of £3m towards transport improvements in the A133 Colchester to Clacton corridor.