Clause 1 - Preparatory expenditure

Part of High Speed Rail (Preparation) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 9:15 am on 16 July 2013.

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Photo of Lilian Greenwood Lilian Greenwood Shadow Minister (Transport) 9:15, 16 July 2013

My hon. Friend is exactly right. As we know from our evidence sessions last week and from reading press reports, there is real concern in the country.

The project is controversial, in part because some wonder whether it is the right use of public money to achieve the outcomes set out by the Government. There has been criticism of their ability so far to make the case for the high-speed rail line and the objectives set out in their statements. Hon. Members will be aware of the criticisms made by the National Audit Office in its recent report on High Speed 2’s progress. The NAO felt that insufficient evidence had been presented to show that the project would meet the objectives of developing additional capacity, the wider economic benefits such as rebalancing the economy between north and south, and our aspiration for environmental benefits. It is particularly important that we have good reporting and early warning of any problems in the budgets or any excess spending, now that annual budgets have been set out up to 2020-21. Parliament should know as soon as possible whether those budgets will be exceeded, owing to either unforeseen costs or additions to the route.

I am not necessarily against changes to the route. During a consultation period—we just concluded the consultation on the draft environmental assessment—if the Government are consulting properly on issues such as compensation, it is absolutely right they have the ability to change their mind and make amendments. However, if they make changes to the project plan and any additions to the route, they need to set out clearly the additional costs, and not simply wait until the end of a reporting period to do that. That is required for effective scrutiny.

In evidence last week, the chief executive of HS2 Ltd said that she was 95% certain that the increased cost ceilings, as set out by the Secretary of State, would not be breached.