Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of recent increases in long-term government borrowing on the (1) final cost of HS2, and (2) impact to the benefit-cost ratio; and what changes, if any, they plan to make to the discount method applied to previous calculations concerning the affordability and value for money of HS2.

The HS2 programme is experiencing high levels of inflation, consistent with the rest of the economy and construction industry. Whilst I am clear that HS2 Ltd and its supply chain must do all they can do mitigate inflationary pressures, the overall cost of the programme is not affected in real terms because the budgets are set in 2019 prices.

To ensure comparability with all other Transport and Government schemes, discounting rates are set in accordance with the HMT's Green Book and DfT's Transport Analysis Guidance.