Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given, or was given by the recent review of HS2 by James Stewart, to estimate the final additional cost of completing the HS2 project; and whether they have given any consideration to cancelling the project.

We recognise the scale of the challenges highlighted by James Stewart and we accept his findings on HS2 in full, including all the recommendations on cost control. This government is committed to implementing these recommendations.

On 18 June, the Transport Secretary made an oral statement to the House on the current status of HS2, explaining the cost and schedule pressures the project is facing and that she has tasked new HS2 Ltd CEO Mark Wild with resetting the programme

Mark Wild has delivered his initial assessment, which was published alongside the Transport Secretary's oral statement, and is currently undertaking a comprehensive reset of the programme which will provide a realistic budget and schedule to deliver the remaining works.