To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish an assessment of the effect on (a) local prices and (b) local building site productivity of HS2 Ltd pre-purchasing stocks of stone and aggregates, steel, timber and other building materials and supplies; and if he will make a statement.

We are aware of price fluctuations of key construction materials, fuelled by high demand from the construction sector as it recovers strongly from the pandemic combined with decreases in global supplies.

HS2 Ltd, the Department for Transport, and colleagues at the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy are monitoring this closely, but do not have any information to suggest that HS2 is having a material impact on material availability or pricing at this time.