Speeches by Atkinson.

“I was just surprised that in citing the figures it was saying they do not justify the boom and bust happening, but aren’t we in a period of bust right now?”

“But we had nearly 1,000 years of welding experience combined walk out of the doors at Alstom before that was put in place. It is just about trying to ensure that we still have those skills when the works starts, isn’t it? Doesn’t that still need more support?”

“As they are not building them yet, is there anything more that needs to be done to ensure that the supply chain still exists by the time the work starts?”

“My colleague has further questions on this point, so I will leave it to him.”

“Lord Hendy, there is a very obvious relationship between a steady investment pipeline and maintaining a skilled workforce. The Department has acknowledged that in written evidence. You wanted to be focused on facts. The National Skills Academy for Rail reports that there has been a 9.4% reduction in workforce over the …”

“In light of the delay that the companies and the supply chain have had to manage to navigate, waiting for the spending review and the announcement since, what support is being given considering that so many of them feel that they have gaps in their order books and have real difficulties in surviving while waiting for c…”

“My husband served in Afghanistan and has always felt keenly the debt that our country owes to those who worked alongside and supported our forces, and I know that many of my constituents who served there feel the same. If we fail to honour our debts, why should people in future conflicts trust us and support our troops…”

“We are seeing massive investment in the regeneration of Derby city centre, including the opening of a new entertainment venue and the reopening of our market hall, which is bursting with small and independent businesses. Regeneration also means ensuring that our city feels safe, welcoming and inclusive. Will the Minist…”

“Alan Over, I think you said that people may have been of the view that we want to join the high-speed revolution. Why is it so hard to identify the “we”? I do not really understand—we seem to have heard about it again and again—who was determining the options and taking the decisions. I am astonished that the answer se…”

“Absolutely. I understand the need to make sure that we get the pipeline in place, but it is about how much of the supply chain will still be there if there is much more delay in getting it in place.”

“When do you think the supply chain is going to be put in a place where they have that confidence? I know that there is a lot of work being done in relation to the infrastructure plan, but aren’t we still in a place where there isn’t sufficient certainty that would enable consistency so that we can make sure that that i…”

“The Office for Value for Money’s report on mega-projects showed that all but one had been late and over budget. Why are we so poor at learning from past failures with such projects? When are we going to get to the point that we start getting it right?”

“Isn’t it a concern, if transport projects are hugely underestimated in terms of their benefit, when they are competing with the Treasury against other projects across the country?”

“I had understood that the benefits of the Elizabeth line were wildly underestimated. If you are still saying that we are taking that learning and considering that learning, can we be confident in the way that we assess projects at the moment?”

“There has been criticism of the benefit-cost ratios in assessing projects. We have spent a lot of time talking about optimism and about costs and how we can get that right, but the Stewart review also considered that the benefits of HS2 were being underestimated. How do you think we need to reform how we do benefits an…”

“Thank you. Lord Hendy, what lessons are you taking on board for the organisation of future projects? I am conscious that Mark Wild said he would not go as far as saying that a blank cheque had been written, but when you don’t have the pressures of trying to ensure that there are cost efficiencies that sounds a bit like…”

“You have talked about that kind of optimism and too much specification in the early stages, but Sir John Armitt, the former chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, said that every time a new Secretary of State came in the scope of HS2 changed. Does it also need the same level of challenge and transparency each…”

“I know, Mark Wild, that you are doing your own assessment for the reset, but when it comes to governance the Stewart review went into great detail about the failure of governance at HS2. How are you taking on board the recommendations and the concerns set out in the Stewart review?”

“I was going to ask if you think there is enough accountability, in terms of having the consequences and the associated costs clearly set out against the decision makers. When you have these long projects there is a series of different decision makers, and we get into situations like the one we appear to be in, through …”

“After 14 years of Conservative government, victims of rape and serious sexual crimes are waiting years to see justice. It appears that the shadow Justice Secretary has recently discovered that our criminal justice system is broken. When does the Minister think he will discover who broke it?”