Recommendation 23

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 19 June 2023.58 Our sister committee, the Transport Committee, held a session with the Department two days later, where it asked why the update had been delayed. The Department explained that a large part of the delay was due to the local election purdah period and that it would seek to return to the original timetable for future updates. The Transport Committee was also concerned about the lack of new information that would be expected in the update, for example updated costs using a more recent price base and an updated benefit-cost ratio. The Department told the Committee that work was ongoing and, if that was not completed in time to report as part of the next six-monthly update, it committed to find other means to provide the Committee with an update on the costs and benefits.59 Learning lessons