Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people likely to take up the alternative cash offer under the High Speed 2 compensation scheme.
The Department recognises that the alternative cash offer is a new approach to compensating those who will be affected by the railway and we therefore do not have the evidence to estimate the number of people likely to take it up. We have instead modelled a range of possible take-up rates, up to 75%. In order to strengthen our understanding of the potential impact of this policy, we have commissioned an independent social research company to gather further evidence and we will also be able to draw upon responses from the current consultation.