Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the estimated costs of HS2 remain manageable and within the planned budget.

With delivery now well underway, this government’s current focus is the safe delivery of HS2 between Birmingham and London Euston at the lowest reasonable cost. On 20 October we set out the urgent action that we are taking to bring HS2 back under control, get a grip on costs, and ensure taxpayers’ money is put to good use.

We have reinstated ministerial oversight of the project to ensure greater accountability and have commissioned an independent review of the oversight of major transport infrastructure projects, which will investigate the effectiveness of forecasting and reporting of cost, schedule and benefits, as well as actions to deliver cost efficiencies. The recommendations from this review will inform our decisions on what further action may need to be taken.

The government is also tasking the new CEO of HS2 Ltd, Mark Wild, with producing an action plan to reset the programme and deliver the remaining work as cost effectively as possible.