HS2 Supplementary Environmental Statement 3 and Additional Provision 4 consultation

The government has deposited a proposed set of changes to the High Speed Rail (London to West Midlands) Bill in Parliament, in the form of ‘Supplementary Environmental Statement (SES) 3 and Additional Provision (AP) 4.

The changes reflect amendments and design changes that have arisen through the High Speed Rail (London to West Midlands) Select Committee process, the Promoter’s discussions with landowners, occupiers and stakeholders, refinements to the design and updated environmental information. This is normal for a Bill of this nature on its journey through Parliament.

The government is consulting on the SES 3 and AP4 ES (Oct 2015).

In view of the amended documentation described below, the consultation period has been extended to 23 December 2015, to ensure that those who wish to reply have adequate time to consider the revised information. Responses already received are not affected.

Minor corrections have been made to one of the documents contained within the SES3 and AP4 ES. Document 3.5.1.10.1 Volume 5 Technical Appendices: Transport Assessment (TR-001-000) has been updated to correct specific traffic data relating to CFAs 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15. The corrected text is highlighted in yellow. These corrections do not affect the outcome of the traffic assessments.

Those who have already submitted a response without considering the amended data may submit a further response should they wish. The responses will be treated separately but all responses will be passed to Parliament’s Independent Assessor.

Consultation responses will be published on a publicly accessible website. Individuals’ names, addresses or signatures will not be published. However, please do not include information in your response that could identify you, unless you are happy for it to be made public.

If you do not want any of your response to be published, you should clearly mark it as ‘Confidential’ in the subject line of the email or at the top of your letter. However, please note the following. All information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be subject to disclosure in accordance with access to information regimes - these are, primarily, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Under the FOIA, there is a statutory Code of Practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals with our confidentiality obligations, amongst other things. In view of this, it would be helpful if you could explain in your response why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information you provide, we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances.

An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Department for Transport or HS2 Ltd.

Please note that all responses received, whether marked ‘Confidential’ or not, will be passed on in full to the Houses of Parliament and their appointed Assessor, who will analyse the responses and make a report to Parliament. That report will not contain your personal data. Responses will also be sent to HS2 Ltd during the process of making them available for public viewing.