The Department for Transport has received no further representations pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2014, Official Report, column 555W, on High Speed 2. Due to the scale, complexity and time frame of the project, our base assumption remains that the funding and financing will be provided in large part by central Government. Through the funding envelope allocated to both phases of HS2 during the spending round, the Government reiterated their ongoing commitment to ensuring the delivery of HS2. The Government will take forward dialogue on potential funding contributions with a range of third parties in specific localities, with a view to securing a fair deal for the taxpayer, the localities involved and other interested parties. The case for HS2 has been calculated on the basis of the project being fully publicly funded. However, the Department is considering the potential for private financing to play a role in helping reduce the up-front costs to the taxpayer.