Recommendations & Conclusions
6 items
3
Conclusion
Sixty-Third Report - HS2 Euston
Rejected
The Department does not yet know the costs and impacts of pausing construction. Neither the Department nor HS2 Ltd know the likely costs of pausing construction work for the next two years. They had been developing funding scenarios for the HS2 programme since the 2022 Autumn Statement but, with the …
Government response. The government disagreed with producing an interim report in three months due to affordability pressures, stating it will provide spend to date and contractual obligation details once available, but further details will follow after the Euston Reset Programme.
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
Sixty-Third Report - HS2 Euston
Rejected
The Department’s reports to Parliament on the HS2 Programme did not reflect the significant level of uncertainty in its estimated cost of Euston station. From October 2020 through to its six-monthly update in October 2022, the Department HS2 Euston 7 has reported to Parliament that the cost pressure at Euston …
Government response. The government disagreed with the recommendation to include clear explanations of cost estimate maturity and risks in six-monthly updates, stating that while committed to transparency, Benefit-Cost Ratios will not be included in these reports.
HM Treasury
12
Recommendation
Sixty-Third Report - HS2 Euston
Rejected
In March 2023, following an announcement by the Secretary of State for Transport, the Department paused new construction work on the HS2 Euston station for the next two years to reduce spend over that period and to give it time to develop an affordable and deliverable design.24 The Department and …
Government response. The government rejects the implicit recommendation, stating it considered costs but paused construction due to affordability pressures. It commits to providing the Committee with spend-to-date, contractual settlement costs, and supply chain re-employment details after the Euston Reset Programme.
HM Treasury
13
Recommendation
Sixty-Third Report - HS2 Euston
Rejected
We asked the Department if Ministers had looked at the impact on businesses when they made the decision to pause construction. The Department told us that the decisions Ministers were trying to make were about trying to protect the supply chain as far as they could and that this was …
Government response. The government rejects the implicit recommendation, stating it considered costs but paused construction due to affordability pressures. It commits to providing the Committee with spend-to-date, contractual settlement costs, and supply chain re-employment details after the Euston Reset Programme.
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Sixty-Third Report - HS2 Euston
Rejected
We asked HS2 Ltd whether it was receiving notifications from contractors of their intentions to make contractual claims due to the pause. HS2 Ltd told us that this was not the case and that it is in discussion with contractors about how it can slow down or defer works, and …
Government response. The government disagrees with the implied recommendation, stating that despite considering the costs of pausing, it was not affordable to continue due to budget pressures. It is working with HS2 Ltd to manage pause costs and will provide the Committee …
HM Treasury
23
Recommendation
Sixty-Third Report - HS2 Euston
Rejected
Prior to our evidence session, the Department had published its latest six-monthly update to Parliament in October 2022. It did not publish an update six months later in March 2023. Following our evidence session on 24 April 2023, the Department published its next six-monthly update on the HS2 programme on …
Government response. The government rejects the recommendation, citing external factors for past delays but committing to timely future reports within 6 months. However, it specifically states that Benefit-Cost Ratios will not be included in these six-monthly reports, and updating the price base …
HM Treasury