Commenting on the minister’s announcement, Hannah Vickers, chief executive of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE), said:

“ACE and its members welcome the clarity that the chairman’s stock take and the forthcoming Oakervee review will bring to the project. They recognise that we are delivering a different scheme, where both costs and, crucially, benefits are greater than initially envisaged. 

“HS2 will be transformational for the country and it is right to be investing the time now to develop all phases of the scheme and to further reduce risk and uncertainty around the cost, benefits and schedules within the windows the chairman has provided. To deliver on this, HS2 needs to be engaging directly with our world-class consultancy and engineering expertise to support the development and planning for the scheme. We welcome the written commitment to collaborate more with the supply chain over the coming months and ACE and its members will continue to offer the best route and value in doing this.”