Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 25 March (HL14250), why the Department for Transport's Permanent Secretary, Bernadette Kelly, stated in a letter to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee of 22 June, "we do not recognise the £1.7 billion figure"; what is the new recognised figure; and what are the reasons for this change.

The Department’s second bi-annual update to Parliament on 23 March 2021 provided an update on the progress of HS2 including the current cost pressures and the contingency that is available to accommodate them if they do materialise. We will provide a further update in the next bi-annual report.