Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Accepted
Revised HS2 Phase 1 business case requires significant work on costs and benefits
Conclusion
The Department told us that a full, revised business case will need to be produced for Phase 1, taking account of what it now knows about costs, the changes to scope and what that means for the overall benefits.15 The Department said that key benefits remain – such as increased capacity, journey times and wider economic benefits from investment and regeneration around stations.16 But not building 2a and 2b reduces additional capacity and the possibility of faster journeys north of Birmingham, and the previous business case depended on delivering 2a and 2b.17 The Department said that there is undeniably more work to do to get to the new business case, as it represents a significant reset of the programme, and it will need to do further work both to figure out costs and on the benefits that can now be delivered. It told us it would be doing that work in the first half of 2024.18 The Department told us it would take longer than that to produce a detailed plan for a privately funded Euston development.19 Cost escalation
Government Response Summary
The government confirms it is preparing to publish an updated programme business case for HS2 Phase 1 in 2024, which will detail revised benefits and provide updated benefit-cost ratios, aligning with previous statements to the committee.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: during 2024 1.2 The Department for Transport (the department) is preparing to publish an updated programme business case in 2024. This business case will set out the updated benefits of the revised programme and how the department will continue to monitor the delivery of programme benefits, and will provide updated benefit-cost ratios. 1.3 The programme has a well-established process for measuring the significant benefits already being delivered through construction. The programme is currently supporting over 28,000 jobs, thousands of UK businesses and has created over 1,400 apprenticeships since 2017. 1.4 The department will continue to work across government to support the ongoing realisation of benefits, with particular focus on the operational benefits as the railway comes into service, and the regeneration benefits at places along the line of route including around the new stations.