Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people working for (a) his Department and (b) HS2 Ltd have had their travel costs to and from their place of work paid for by his Department in the last two years; and from what locations each such payment of costs related to.

a) Under the Department’s Travel & Subsistence policy, employees may only be reimbursed for the additional cost of official travel. Official travel is classed as any travel you need to make away from your normal workplace. Home to normal workplace journeys are not official travel and these costs must not be claimed unless in exceptional circumstances. However, information on the numbers of staff who have received exceptional reimbursements and the locations of their travel is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

b) HS2 Ltd does not reimburse individuals for travel between home and permanent place of work (as per the HS2 Business Expenses Policy). This travel is treated as ordinary commute and not reimbursable. There are individually agreed exceptions such as: taxis home following late night working, where staff members are taken ill at work and have to go home, and other specific circumstances. These decisions are made by the local Head of Department and there is no single record detailing these exceptional circumstances.