Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority Annual Report on Major Projects 2019–20, published on 9 July, which categorised the HS2 project as a red risk, what recent assessment they have made of (1) the construction, and (2) the whole life costs, of the consented HS2 Phase One scheme at Wendover.

The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) has not conducted a review of the Wendover area since its dedicated review in 2018. The review in 2018 of the Wendover area was of the process by which HS2 Ltd had considered and rejected the mined tunnel proposal. However, the IPA was not asked to review either the construction costs or the whole life costs, but whether HS2 Ltd had followed a competent process in making its decision. The review concluded that HS2 Ltd had followed a competent process in reaching its decision.