HS2 Supplementary Environmental Statement 4 and Additional Provision 5 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 a Supplementary Environmental Statement and Additional Provision known as ‘Supplementary Environmental Statement (SES) 4 and Additional Provision (AP) 5 Environmental Statement (December 2015)’ or SES 4 and AP5 ES (Dec 2015).

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, including utility companies. This is normal for a Bill of this nature on its journey through Parliament.

The government is now consulting on the SES 4 and AP5 ES (Dec 2015).

Confidentiality and data protection

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 Individuals’ names, addresses or signatures will not be published.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.