To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many civil servants in the Government Communications Service have been assigned to work on issues relating to High Speed 2.

There are currently two Department for Transport (DfT) civil servants who work solely on High Speed 2 communications and there are two vacancies. None of the civil servants were assigned to their posts by the Government Communications Service, but all of them are employed as civil servants in accordance with GCS standards. In addition, there are two further DfT civil servants who work in part on HS2 communications, but have additional responsibilities covering all the department’s policies.