Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

HS2: Update following the Northern leg cancellation

Status: Closed Opened: 31 Oct 2024 Closed: 16 May 2025 8 recommendations 43 conclusions 1 report

In October 2023, the Government announced the cancellation of Phase 2 of the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway from the West Midlands to Manchester, as well as a smaller HS2 station in London Euston. Following this announcement, the Department for Transport (DfT) and DfT’s arm’s-length body HS2 Ltd began work to understand the implications for …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
10th Report - HS2: Update following the Northern leg cancel… HC 357 28 Feb 2025 51 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

1 item
3 Conclusion 10th Report - HS2: Update following the… Rejected

Report progress on HS2 contract renegotiations and plans for achieving cost savings

HS2 Ltd’s construction contracts are unacceptable to the public purse and it is imperative that HS2 Ltd deliver on its assurances to us that it can renegotiate these and deliver significant cost savings. The terms and operation of these contracts provide extremely poor value for money. HS2 Ltd did not …

Government response. The government disagrees with the specific recommendations, stating that due to ongoing, commercially sensitive negotiations and a programme reset, they cannot provide details on savings or commit to writing to the committee by the specified deadline. Updates will be provided …
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
19 Dec 2024 Alan Foster · HS2 Ltd, Alan Over · Department for Transport, Dame Bernadette Kelly DCB · Department for Transport, Mark Wild · HS2 Ltd View ↗

Correspondence

15 letters
DateDirectionTitle
4 Sep 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport and High Sp…
9 Jul 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Transport and the Chi…
8 Jul 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport and the Chi…
3 Jul 2025 From cttee Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport relating to t…
30 Jun 2025 From cttee Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport relating to t…
26 Jun 2025 To cttee Letter from the Interim Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport and…
9 Jun 2025 From cttee Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport relating to t…
19 May 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport relating to…
17 Mar 2025 From cttee Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport relating to t…
4 Feb 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport relating to…
20 Jan 2025 To cttee Letter from the Deputy Chief Executive Officer at High Speed Two (HS2) Limited …
20 Jan 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport relating to…
20 Jan 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport relating to…
2 Jan 2025 From cttee Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport relating to t…
19 Dec 2024 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport relating to…