Recommendations & Conclusions
22 items
2
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
The Department and HS2 Ltd’s failure to work together effectively is starkly illustrated by them not being able to agree how much HS2 will cost. The Department and HS2 Ltd have still not agreed on how much it will cost to complete Phase 1. They are yet to reach agreement …
Government response. The government agrees, stating it is finalizing the cost estimating methodology with HS2 Ltd over the summer and will fully implement it as part of the program reset in 2026. It commits to providing a further update to the Committee …
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
The Department and HS2 Ltd do not have the skills and capabilities needed to successfully deliver the programme. The Public Accounts Committee has repeatedly raised concerns over the Department and HS2 Ltd having the skills and capability they need. Following the cancellation of Phase 2, HS2 Ltd now needs to …
Government response. The government is undertaking a comprehensive change programme to reshape HS2 Ltd's organisation, including executive leadership changes, appointing a new Chair to review board capability, and commencing recruitment for identified gaps. Key performance indicators for 2025-26 are being agreed and …
HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
The Department’s plans for Euston carry huge risks given the uncertainties about its scope, cost, funding, schedule and delivery model. In the 2024 Autumn budget, the government confirmed that HS2 would terminate at London Euston rather than Old Oak Common in West London, but the scope of the work needed …
Government response. The government agrees to include an update on Euston's progress in its six-monthly report to Parliament in Summer 2025, covering the delivery model, private financing, risk management, and cost figures. They are also responding to a separate committee letter regarding …
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
Things are moving too slowly on making decisions on the disposal of land and property purchased as part of the programme. The Department has yet to determine what land and property can be disposed of following the cancellation of Phase 2, and what land it will retain ownership of for …
Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation, is undertaking a review of the Phase 2 land portfolio including identifying Crichel Down properties, and will write to the Committee to confirm next steps for a disposal programme. This information, along with approaches …
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
Over the last decade the Department and HS2 Ltd have repeatedly said they are learning lessons but there is little evidence that lessons have been applied effectively and mistakes avoided. Since 2013, the Department and HS2 Ltd have told the Committee that they have been learning lessons. This has included …
Government response. The government agrees to work with HM Treasury and NISTA to identify and apply key lessons from the HS2 programme during the reset, incorporating findings from the Major Transport Projects Governance and Assurance Review. They will write to the Committee …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Transport (the Department) and High Speed Two Limited (HS2 Ltd) on the current state of the High Speed Two (HS2) programme.1 The Department is the programme’s sponsor, responsible for funding and …
Government response. The government agrees, stating that work is underway to improve oversight and financial control of HS2, including resetting contracts, launching an independent review, reinstating ministerial oversight, and commissioning a comprehensive review by the new HS2 Ltd CEO. Updates on this …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
We were told by HS2 Ltd that it would take time to implement the changes needed as part of the programme’s fundamental reset, with all of 2025 needed to ensure the organisation’s activities are all orientated towards delivering Phase 1. HS2 Ltd estimated that the reset would not be complete, …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's observation, stating that work is well underway to improve HS2's oversight and financial control, including making clear that HS2 Ltd and suppliers must reset contracts, launching an independent review, and reinstating ministerial oversight. The …
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
The Department and HS2 Ltd still disagree on the estimated total costs for completing the programme. Despite using the same data, the Department and HS2 Ltd told us that estimates differ because they disagree over a range of technical factors relating to the methodology used for the estimates and assumptions …
Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation, stating it has commissioned a comprehensive review of the programme and agreed areas of cost estimation with HS2 Ltd. It is working to finalise the cost estimating methodology over the summer and implement it …
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
Both the Department and HS2 Ltd told us that they were working together to reach an agreed methodology including drawing on third–party technical advice on cost estimation and, to ensure that the underpinning assumptions of future estimates are agreed, establishing an oversight group with HM Treasury representation.18 The Department expressed …
Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation, outlining steps to finalise and implement an agreed cost estimating methodology with HS2 Ltd, including a comprehensive review and collaboration with NISTA and HM Treasury, by Spring 2026.
HM Treasury
28
Recommendation
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
The Public Accounts Committee has repeatedly raised concerns over whether the Department and HS2 Ltd have had the necessary skills and capability to deliver HS2 successfully. In 2020 the previous Committee cautioned that it was not yet convinced that the Department and HS2 Ltd had the skills and capability they …
Government response. The government accepts the recommendation, detailing that the new HS2 Ltd CEO has commenced a comprehensive change programme to enhance skills and capabilities, made executive leadership changes, and the department is undertaking parallel activity. A new Chair is being appointed …
HM Treasury
29
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
HS2 Ltd also acknowledged in evidence to the previous Committee in November 2023 that it that it needed to think about its capacity and capability throughout the company to deliver the task ahead.47 While HS2 Ltd’s focus in recent years has been on civil engineering, it has been 44 Q17; …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's observation, detailing that the new CEO has commenced a comprehensive change programme to reshape HS2 Ltd's capabilities, with a reset program expected to conclude in 2026. Parallel departmental activity, a new Chair appointment to …
HM Treasury
30
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
HS2 Ltd now has new leadership, with Mark Wild appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer and taking up the role in December 2024. He brings his experience of delivering Crossrail into operation and is tasked with delivering the programme’s reset.49 He told us that the three things that he …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's observation, detailing that the new CEO has commenced a comprehensive change programme, made executive leadership changes, and a new Chair is being appointed to review board capability and fill gaps. New KPIs and a …
HM Treasury
36
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
In the 2024 Autumn Budget, the government confirmed that HS2 would terminate at Euston, announcing that it would fund the work to tunnel from Old Oak Common in west London to Euston.61 The previous Public Accounts 57 Qq 78–80 58 Q 47 59 Ibid 60 Qq 45–46 61 HM Treasury, …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's observation and commits to providing an update on progress at Euston in its next six-monthly report to Parliament in Summer 2025, and is also responding to a specific letter about the Euston tunnelling schedule.
HM Treasury
37
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
The Department acknowledged that establishing a clearer plan for the works at Euston and implementing it will take over a decade and that there will be continued disruption to local businesses and communities at Euston. The Department committed to provide transparency and engagement with local residents on its plan.65 62 …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's observation that it committed to transparency and engagement, and states it will provide an update on progress on Euston in its six-monthly report to Parliament in Summer 2025, as well as responding to a …
HM Treasury
38
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
Up to the end of March 2024, HS2 Ltd had spent £3.7 billion on buying land and property along the HS2 route, of which £592 million relates to the cancelled Phase 2.66 The types of land and property include agricultural, commercial and residential, with HS2 Ltd purchasing around a thousand …
Government response. The government responds to the perceived recommendation by stating that preparatory work for a Phase 2 land disposal programme is underway, which includes a review of the land portfolio and identification of Crichel Down properties. It commits to providing updates …
HM Treasury
39
Recommendation
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
In February 2024, the previous Public Accounts Committee stressed the need for the Department and HS2 Ltd to develop a strategy for the disposal of land and property, and to balance the need for value for money for the taxpayer with the needs of those who have been affected. The …
Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation and states that preparatory work is underway for a Phase 2 land disposal programme, including a portfolio review and identification of Crichel Down properties. It commits to providing updates on next steps to the …
HM Treasury
41
Recommendation
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
We pressed the Department to ensure that wherever possible, properties should be offered back to the persons from whom they were purchased, and that requests from people who would like to move back into their former homes be handled sympathetically, given that it can take years for cases to be …
Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation and states that preparatory work is underway for a Phase 2 land disposal programme, which includes identifying Crichel Down properties. It commits to confirming next steps to the Committee and providing updates in future …
HM Treasury
42
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
The Department told us that it is obliged to secure value for money for the taxpayer and to follow the Crichel Down rules, which require government departments to offer surplus land back to the previous owner at the current market value. However, the Department acknowledged that the rules need to …
Government response. The government agrees and is undertaking a review of the Phase 2 land portfolio, including identification of Crichel Down properties, as part of a disposal programme. They will write to the Committee with next steps and include updates in a …
HM Treasury
46
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
Since 2013, the Department and HS2 Ltd have told the Public Accounts Committee that they have been learning lessons from other major programmes to apply to how they are managing the HS2 programme. For example, in 2019, the Department and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority published a ‘Lessons for the …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's observation, committing to learning and implementing lessons from the HS2 programme reset and transformation, taking into account future review findings, and sharing lessons across government. The department will write to the Committee outlining key …
HM Treasury
49
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
The Department told us that, together with HS2 Ltd, it has worked with HM Treasury and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority to consider all the lessons to date from the HS2 programme but is continuing to ‘mine’ the lessons learned from HS2. The Department also expects the Major Transport Project …
Government response. The government agrees with the conclusion, committing to identify and apply lessons from the HS2 program during the program reset and transformation of HS2 Ltd. It will outline key lessons to the Committee and provide updates in future Parliamentary reports.
HM Treasury
50
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
The Department reflected that a key lesson from the experience of HS2, and which needs to inform all the Department’s future infrastructure plans, is that the Department needs to be very clear when it sets out on a large project what it is there to achieve. Changing the scope significantly …
Government response. The government agrees with the conclusion, committing to identify and apply lessons from the HS2 program during the program reset and transformation of HS2 Ltd. It will outline key lessons to the Committee and provide updates in future Parliamentary reports.
HM Treasury
51
Conclusion
10th Report - HS2: Update following the…
Accepted
The Department also suggested to us that the delivery of infrastructure has been too focused on “grand projects or big schemes that are binary—you do them or you don’t do them” as opposed to setting a long–term intent and delivering it in smaller incremental stages. The Department explained that in …
Government response. The government agrees with the conclusion, committing to identify and apply lessons from the HS2 program regarding project delivery approaches during the program reset and transformation of HS2 Ltd. It will outline key lessons to the Committee and provide updates …
HM Treasury