Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) HS2 Limited has signed, or has incorporated into contracts with, (1) consultancy firms, (2) senior staff of HS2 Limited leaving the organisation, (3) landowners negotiating compulsory purchase orders, and (4) police forces; how many contracts between HS2 Limited and those groups did not include NDAs or similar clauses; and further to the remarks by Nusrat Ghani MP on 15 July 2019 (HC Deb, col 651), how many NDAs signed by HS2 Limited were deemed "competitive and sensitive".

HS2 Ltd uses NDAs to enable the exchange of confidential information with individuals and organisations, who do so on a willing and consensual basis. As Nusrat Ghani MP made clear on 15 July 2019, HS2 Ltd takes its responsibilities on the use of NDAs seriously. While HS2 Ltd holds information on the parties it has signed NDAs with, it is not held in a format that can be disaggregated by category and as such it is unable to provide information on: the number of NDAs with consultancy firms; landowners negotiating compulsory purchase orders; and the number that were deemed "confidential and sensitive".

I can confirm that no NDAs have been signed by HS2 Ltd with police forces or with senior staff who have left the organisation; though a small number of Settlement Agreements have been signed with former staff which contain a confidentiality clause.