Select committee: Welsh Affairs Committee
Recommendation 15
First Report - Railway Infrastructure in Wales
Published 14 Jul 2021
Paragraph 106
Addressed to Wales Office
Welsh Affairs Committee Railway Infrastructure in Wales All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
HS2 is one of the largest infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the UK. It is a project of unprecedented size and complexity and has already created several thousand jobs as part of a supply chain that spans the country, including Wales. However, as rail infrastructure is not devolved, beyond the core valleys lines, to the Welsh Government, Wales will not benefit in the same way as Scotland and Northern Ireland from Barnett consequentials arising from the HS2 project. This is despite the fact that UK Government’s own analysis has concluded that HS2 will produce an economic disbenefit for Wales. We recommend that HS2 should be reclassified as an England only project. Using the Barnett formula, Wales’ funding settlement should be recalculated to apply an additional allocation based on the funding for HS2 in England. This would help to ensure that Welsh rail passengers receive the same advantage from investment in HS2 as those in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
From: Welsh Affairs Committee, First Report - Railway Infrastructure in Wales (HC 438), paragraph 106, 14 July 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 22 September 2021 (deadline 14 September 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government largely "notes" the Committee's recommendations, agreeing in part to some and in full to others, while not accepting that the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline hampers delivery.
- On a Wales Rail Board (Recommendations 8, 12 and 13), the government agrees in part and proposes a senior-level Board, with terms of reference "under discussion" and an initial meeting "at the earliest opportunity in the current calendar year".
- On electrification between Cardiff and Swansea (Recommendations 6 and 7), the government notes the recommendations. It says the 2017 cancellation was "due to significant increase in costs and poor value for money", and that future decisions will be guided by Network Rail's TDNS.
- On Union Connectivity Review recommendations, the government notes them. It expects the final report in Autumn 2021 and "will consider funding for Union connectivity schemes as part of the forthcoming Spending Review".
- On HS2 funding (Recommendation 15), the government notes the recommendation to reclassify HS2 as England-only. It says it spends on heavy rail in Wales rather than providing Barnett-based funding, consistent with the Statement of Funding Policy.