Lord Berkeley to give evidence on HS2 to Lords Economic Affairs Committee

Monday, 27 January 2020 11:10

On Tuesday 28 January 2019 the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee will be holding a double evidence session on the economic case for HS2. The first session will begin at 3.35pm. Giving evidence will be: Lord Berkeley, Former Deputy Chair of Oakervee HS2 Review Michael Byng, Director at mbpc Infrastructure Limited. Questions the Committee is likely to ask include: How did you calculate the overall cost...Request free trial

On Tuesday 28 January 2019 the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee will be holding a double evidence session on the economic case for HS2.

The first session will begin at 3.35pm. Giving evidence will be:

Lord Berkeley, Former Deputy Chair of Oakervee HS2 Review
Michael Byng, Director at mbpc Infrastructure Limited.

Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:

How did you calculate the overall cost projections for HS2 and why was the Oakervee review reluctant to accept your methodology and findings?
What is your estimate of the overall economic impact of HS2 on the UK economy?
To reduce the cost of the project, where can the most effective savings be made?
What implications would there be for businesses and other stakeholders along the HS2 route, if the project was scrapped in whole or in part?
What “shovel-ready” alternatives are there to HS2 for rail investment in the midlands and the North of England?

The second session will begin at 4.35pm. Giving evidence will be:

Maria Machancoses, Director at Midlands Connect
Barry White, Chief Executive of Transport for the North.

Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:

Should HS2 go ahead regardless of cost? At what point does the project become too expensive?
What would scaling back the HS2 project mean for the midlands and the north in practice and what effects would this have on the existing network?
Do you agree with the conclusions in Lord Berkeley’s dissenting report?
Is there a case for redeploying funds from the southern portion of HS2 to the midlands and the north immediately?
How many of the existing programmes in the midlands and the north are underpinned by the arrival of HS2 and can they be redesigned without it?

These evidence sessions, which are open to the public, will start at 3.35pm on Tuesday 28 January 2020 in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords.

In May 2019 the Committee published its report, Rethinking High Speed 2. The report considers the business case for High Speed 2, following up on the Committee’s 2015 report, The Economics of High Speed 2. Click here to find out more about it.