Recommendation 4

HS2 Ltd’s efforts to reduce the environmental impact of HS2 are not delivering value for money, with the c.£100 million cost of a protective ‘bat tunnel’ more than doubling the cost of that section of railway alone. The Committee does not consider that the right balance has been struck between protecting the landscape and wildlife and the burden this places 5 on taxpayers in relation to large public infrastructure projects such as this. The most striking example of this is the 1 kilometre long ‘bat tunnel’ that HS2 Ltd is building at a cost of c.£100 million (in 2019 prices) to reduce the impact of the railway in that area on a protected species of bat. This is in addition to the £73 million cost of building the underlying stretch of railway and the time and effort taken by DfT, HS2 Ltd and other bodies involved to agree the design and planning permission for the structure. The fact that the Department and HS2 Ltd chose this solution leaves us concerned that the cost to the public purse was not properly front and centre to their decision making. The Department acknowledged that the laws in this area for national infrastructure should be reviewed and while we welcome the recent announcements from government to reduce such burdens on infrastructure projects, through a Nature Restoration Fund, it is not clear to what extent this would reduce costs and delays for major projects such as HS2. recommendation In its letter to us before the 2025 summer recess, the Department should set out how it will work with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to assess what impact the new nature restoration fund would have had on the section of the line where the bat tunnel is, and use that case study to help refine the operation of the fund.