1-967 HS2 Phase 2 support

Highways England is looking to set up a contract for provision of services, to provide support and advice to the HS2 Interface team within Strategy and Planning.

HS2 Phase 2 will have a significant impact on the operation and design of the strategic road network (SRN) as a result of the large number of construction and operational interactions between HS2 Phase 2 and the SRN. This scale of interaction needs careful management, and this work is vital to ensure that HE is well informed and able to influence HS2's design and delivery.

The interface with HS2 Phase 2 is entering critical period. Royal Assent for Phase 2a is due in the next few months, and the Phase 2b Hybrid bill is being finalised for deposit (which is currently planned for June 2020). As part of this work, we have identified key priorities for the coming year.

These priorities are: formalising the relationship between HE and HS2 Ltd; finalising the design for the hybrid Bill; and providing challenge and advice to HS2 Ltd on some specific strategic interfaces. In order to properly mitigate the construction and operation impacts on the SRN, additional support is needed to supplement the capability of the HS2 interface team. The support needed will include capability in strategic, spatial and transport planning, but also highways design, construction planning and commercial agreements.

There is uncertainty around the HS2 Programme, based on both the current cost and schedule issues, and also the Oakervee review. Initial decisions are expected following conclusion of the review at end 2019. As a consequence, this support needs to be sufficiently flexible to react to these changes, and strike a balance between being responsive but efficient.

For the reasons above, the HS2 team within Strategy & Planning need to establish a small, core support team, with the ability to call off further capability when needed in order to react to these changes.