Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter from Lord Berkeley to the former Secretary of State for Transport on 16 August 2022 regarding geotechnical risks relating to HS2, why they took eight months to respond to that letter; and what steps they will take to respond in a more timely manner to future correspondence.

I apologise for the delay in responding to your previous correspondence. An interim response was sent to you whilst answers were sought to the technical points raised in your correspondence. The Department will ensure that future correspondence will be responded to promptly.