Government Pays Out Over £232m in Compensation for Scrapped HS2 Northern Leg
According to recent findings from Freedom of Information requests, the government has spent a total of £550m on compensation schemes for those affected by the proposed HS2 route between London and Manchester. Of this amount, over £232m has been paid out to individuals and businesses impacted by the now-scrapped northern leg of the project.
The data shows that 2,446 successful applications for compensation have been made across five different schemes, but 53 cases are still awaiting settlement – a decade after the compensation was made available. The average payment for successful applications is currently at £242,555, and with 53 cases still pending, the next government may face a further bill of almost £13m to fulfill the remaining commitments.
A spokesperson for HS2 Ltd stated that the majority of remaining transactions for the northern leg have been put on hold following the project’s cancellation. They added that, in most cases, only purchases that began before October will proceed if the owner wishes to do so. The spokesperson also mentioned that the phase two program is being closed down in an orderly manner, taking into consideration the needs of local communities and taxpayers.
Sky News reached out to the Conservative Party for a response, but no comment has been given at this time.
The HS2 project was first proposed under a Labour government in 2009 and later adopted by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition in 2010, with an initial estimated cost of £37.5bn. However, delays and rising costs led to plans being scaled back, and last year, the Conservative government announced the cancellation of the line between Birmingham and Manchester. This decision was met with criticism from politicians across the political spectrum, including the mayors of Birmingham and Manchester, who felt that the North and Midlands were being treated as “second-class citizens.”
There have been five compensation schemes in total for HS2, including the Express Purchase Scheme, Rural Support Zone Scheme, Homeowner Payment Scheme, Need to Sell Scheme, and Exceptional Hardship Scheme. The data shows that the government has paid out almost £32m for 116 successful claims in phase one of the project, and close to £50m for 589 claims in phase two under the Rural Support Zone Scheme. Additionally, over £181m has been paid out for 332 successful claims under the Need to Sell Scheme for phase one and more than £85m for phase two.
The government has also spent close to £11.4m on 834 claims under the Homeowner Payment Scheme for phase one and almost £1.7m on 108 claims for phase two. The final compensation scheme, the Exceptional Hardship Scheme, has seen a total of 161 legitimate claims on phase one, with 147 offers paid out at a cost of close to £91.7m. All claims for the now-cancelled phase two have also been paid, totaling at 97 claims and over £61.2m.
With the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2, it is expected that the remaining compensation schemes will be closed down in an organized manner, taking into consideration the needs of local communities and taxpayers. As the project continues to be a topic of discussion and debate, the government will need to carefully consider the financial implications of any future decisions regarding HS2.
