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 th...

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. T Type: conclusion | Number: 23 | Response status: not_accepted Government response: 5.4 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 5.5 External factors affected the department’s original plans for an earlier publication of the HS2 Parliamentary Report, which was further delayed as it has taken time to work through the implicati