Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) what are the respective responsibilities of (a) the permanent secretary at the Department for Transport, and (b) the chief executive of HS2 Ltd, as accounting officers for HS2, and (2) on what occasions, if any, either accounting officer has sought a direction from ministers to deviate from approved budgets.

The Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport is the Department’s principal accounting officer. The responsibilities of accounting officers are set out in Chapter 3 of Managing Public Money.

The Chief Executive Officer of HS2 Ltd has been designated as the company’s accounting officer. Additional information on responsibilities with respect to HS2 can be found in the HS2 Ltd Framework Document.

No Ministerial Directions have been sought by either accounting officer with respect to HS2.