HouseOfCommons
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Hi all, we thought you'd be interested to know about the recent HS2-related activity in the House of Commons: a Westminster Hall debate, the completion of the Commons stages of a Bill, and a couple of relevant library briefings.
Westminster Hall debate:
On Wednesday 10 July, Andrea Leadsom MP held a Westminster Hall debate on the business case for HS2. In her opening speech she outlined her position on the project:
Liam Byrne MP (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill) argued that:
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, Nusrat Ghani MP, responded to the points raised during the debate stating that:
You can read her full response, as well as the contributions from other MPs to the debate on Hansard. You can also watch the debate on Parliamentlive.tv.
Third Reading: High Speed Rail (West Midlands - Crewe) Bill 2017-19:
On Monday 15 July, the High Speed Rail (West Midlands - Crewe) Bill 2017-19 completed all of its stages in the Commons and had it’s first reading in the House of Lords on Tuesday 16 July.
The House voted against two New Clauses which
Commons Library briefings:
For further information you may be interested in a research briefing produced by the House of Commons Library called ‘High Speed 2: The business case, costs and spending’ which looks at what HS2 is designed to address, as well as the estimated costs, environmental and community impacts and more.
The Library has also produced ‘High Speed 2 (HS2) Phase 2a’ which provides an overview of the scheme, its costs, compensation arrangements and more details on the Bill, which would give statutory and planning authority for the construction of Phase 2a of the scheme between the West Midlands and Crewe.
Westminster Hall debate:
On Wednesday 10 July, Andrea Leadsom MP held a Westminster Hall debate on the business case for HS2. In her opening speech she outlined her position on the project:
“Those of us who expressed concerns about HS2 even while it was still in consultation were dismissed by others as nimbys and told that we were flat wrong about the wider benefits that HS2 would bring to the north. I was then and continue to be willing to be proved wrong, but with the delay to the notice to proceed, growing concerns about the project’s spiralling costs, ongoing engineering and design difficulties and, even now, the rumours that the line past Birmingham might never be built, it is high time for the project to be thoroughly reviewed to ensure that it will actually deliver for taxpayers.”
Liam Byrne MP (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill) argued that:
“As is traditional now, the argument against HS2 is couched in terms of value for money. In any value-for-money calculation, the money is easy to calculate, but the value is much harder to put your finger on... If we measure what we treasure, we will clearly see that HS2 is one of the best value-for-money projects that this country has contemplated for many years [...] What I treasure above all is jobs.”
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, Nusrat Ghani MP, responded to the points raised during the debate stating that:
“The debate provides an opportunity to reinforce the importance of HS2 not only for its capacity or for shortening rail journeys, but for fundamentally boosting the economy and smashing the north-south divide [...] 70% of the jobs created across our economy will be outside London, bringing prosperity to the north and the midlands, just as the first railways did, and not only to the cities on the high-speed line. HS2 trains will call at over 25 stations across the UK, from London to Scotland. It has already created 9,000 jobs and 200 apprenticeships. We expect that to rise to 30,000 jobs at peak construction, including over 2,000 new apprentices, many of whom will be trained at the national colleges in Doncaster and Birmingham… I stand here to state confidently that the budget is £55.7 billion and that the timetable is 2026 and 2033.”
You can read her full response, as well as the contributions from other MPs to the debate on Hansard. You can also watch the debate on Parliamentlive.tv.
Third Reading: High Speed Rail (West Midlands - Crewe) Bill 2017-19:
On Monday 15 July, the High Speed Rail (West Midlands - Crewe) Bill 2017-19 completed all of its stages in the Commons and had it’s first reading in the House of Lords on Tuesday 16 July.
The House voted against two New Clauses which
- would have required the Secretary of State to commission an independent peer review of the project, and
- would have prevented contractors from entering into non-disclosure agreement connected with the HS2 works, unless an independent assessor had certified that it was in the public interest.
Commons Library briefings:
For further information you may be interested in a research briefing produced by the House of Commons Library called ‘High Speed 2: The business case, costs and spending’ which looks at what HS2 is designed to address, as well as the estimated costs, environmental and community impacts and more.
The Library has also produced ‘High Speed 2 (HS2) Phase 2a’ which provides an overview of the scheme, its costs, compensation arrangements and more details on the Bill, which would give statutory and planning authority for the construction of Phase 2a of the scheme between the West Midlands and Crewe.