HS2 Ltd has authorisation to offer redundancies on statutory terms.

HS2 publish Annual Reports and Accounts which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hs2-annual-reports-and-accounts The Annual Reports and Accounts provide details about the cost of redundancy payments in each year since HS2 Ltd was established.

The Department is unaware of section 16 orders in relation to HS2.

The Department is unaware of section 16 orders in relation to HS2.

Up to August 2019, HS2 Ltd has served 2,119 such notices:

(a) 0 notices were served in 2015;

(b) 0 notices were served in 2016;

(c) 343 notices were served over 66 locations in 2017;

(d) 1022 notices were served over 141 locations in 2018;

(e) 754 notices were served over 68 locations in 2019 (up to 01/08/19).

Schedule 16 (S.16) of the High Speed Rail Act (London-West Midlands) Act 2017 provides the nominated undertaker (HS2 Ltd) with the ability to temporarily possess land required to deliver Phase One of the railway. As the Act received Royal Assent on 23 February 2017, HS2 Ltd had no powers to serve S.16 notices before this date.

Between 1 April 2015 to end of August 2019, HS2 Ltd have made a number of organisational changes (including the relocation of HS2 Ltd’s head office to Birmingham). These changes have resulted in a total 115 redundancies – details of which are published in each years’ Annual Report and Accounts. The details of how many people and the costs by financial year are published in HS2 Ltd’s annual report and accounts.

Of the 115 made redundant no one from HS2 Ltd has entered into a Non-Disclosure agreement. However, 31 of these individuals have entered into Settlement Agreements which contain mutual confidentiality obligations to protect individuals’ personal information such as what monies are owed. These obligations do not apply where information is required to be disclosed by law or where a protected disclosure is made by the employee under whistleblowing legislation. It should be noted that no one made redundant from HS2 Ltd has raised any such protected disclosure.

As of the end of August, a total of 48 former staff have signed Settlement Agreements with HS2 Ltd.

The Settlement Agreements that have been signed all contain mutual confidentiality obligations which protect personal information such as what monies are owed. These obligations do not apply where information is required to be disclosed by law or where a protected disclosure is made by the employee under whistleblowing legislation. It should be noted that no former employee of HS2 Ltd has raised any such protected disclosure.

Before any Settlement Agreement is signed by HS2 Ltd and the employee, a certificate from an independent legal adviser must be provided, evidencing that legal advice has been given to the employee as to the effect of the terms of the Agreement. This process can lead to requests for changes to the template Agreement, which HS2 Ltd accepts where feasible.

As noted in the response to PQ 281612 and PQ 281613, HS2 Ltd has not entered into any Non-Disclosure Agreements with any HS2 employee.

As of the end of August, a total of 48 former staff have signed Settlement Agreements with HS2 Ltd.

The Settlement Agreements that have been signed all contain mutual confidentiality obligations which protect personal information such as what monies are owed. These obligations do not apply where information is required to be disclosed by law or where a protected disclosure is made by the employee under whistleblowing legislation. It should be noted that no former employee of HS2 Ltd has raised any such protected disclosure.

Before any Settlement Agreement is signed by HS2 Ltd and the employee, a certificate from an independent legal adviser must be provided, evidencing that legal advice has been given to the employee as to the effect of the terms of the Agreement. This process can lead to requests for changes to the template Agreement, which HS2 Ltd accepts where feasible.

As noted in the response to PQ 281612 and PQ 281613, HS2 Ltd has not entered into any Non-Disclosure Agreements with any HS2 employee.

Between 1 April 2015 to end of August 2019, HS2 Ltd have made a number of organisational changes (including the relocation of HS2 Ltd’s head office to Birmingham). These changes have resulted in a total 115 redundancies – details of which are published in each years’ Annual Report and Accounts. The details of how many people and the costs by financial year are published in HS2 Ltd’s annual report and accounts.

Of the 115 made redundant no one from HS2 Ltd has entered into a Non-Disclosure agreement. However, 31 of these individuals have entered into Settlement Agreements which contain mutual confidentiality obligations to protect individuals’ personal information such as what monies are owed. These obligations do not apply where information is required to be disclosed by law or where a protected disclosure is made by the employee under whistleblowing legislation. It should be noted that no one made redundant from HS2 Ltd has raised any such protected disclosure.

​We will continue to work with Troika (UK, US and Norway), EU, UN and regional allies to agree on the most effective course of action, including a range of measures, which could include sanctions. The UK's commitment and respect for human rights and accountability, including through the UN Security Council, is steadfast.

We have said in public and in private, that there must be justice and accountability for the crimes committed by members of the former regime. The UK strongly supports the mission of the International Criminal Court; due legal process must be followed. The UK, through the UN Security Council issued a statement on 11 June that called for the immediate cessation of violence against civilians and emphasised the importance of human rights, protection of civilians, accountability and justice. They also noted the announcement by the Transitional Military Council to investigate the incidents.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) issued a statement on 17 June, which called for all human rights violations and abuses committed to be investigated in an independent and transparent manner, and perpetrators held accountable for their acts. In both the UN and the African Union there is widespread concern about the situation, as well as ongoing considerations of how to hold the Sudanese authorities accountable.

The UK continues to engage with a range of opposition, members of the protest movement as well as the Transitional Military Council (TMC). The UK, alongside Troika partners Norway and the US, has called for all sides to engage in an inclusive dialogue that leads to a swift, orderly and peaceful transition to civilian rule. On 29 May our Ambassador delivered this message to Yassir Arman of Sudan People's Liberation Movement - North (SPLM-N) and encouraged all armed movements to return to Sudan and take part in the talks to agree a civilian-led transition and achieve peace. We have condemned the way that the opposition leaders have since been treated by the TMC since they returned.

On 4 June in a joint Troika statement, we condemned the recent violent attacks by Sudanese security forces against peaceful protestors in Sudan which left many civilians dead or injured. We also expressed serious concern over TMC's announcement that it would cease negotiations and called for an agreed transfer of power to a civilian-led government. Our Embassy in Khartoum calls on members of the Transitional Military Council both in public and directly to take the steps needed to improve the situation in Sudan, including the release of all political detainees

On 6 June, I summoned the Sudanese Ambassador to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to express our grave concerns at the use of violence against civilians by the Sudanese authorities. The UK has called for the human rights of all Sudanese people to be respected, and the resumption of the political process leading to an agreed peaceful transfer of power to a civilian-led government, as demanded by the Sudanese people. We will continue to engage with all sides to support a settlement that works for all Sudanese people.

​The French Government has chosen to focus on inequalities throughout their G7 Presidency this year. We are working across the G7 workstreams to ensure continued progress on gender equality, particularly in the Sahel and across Sub-Saharan Africa. We will push for ambitious Summit outcomes that tackle violence against women and girls, promote girls' education and women's economic empowerment, and support movements to end child marriage and FGM. Our focus is on accelerating the pace of change to ensure that all women and girls are empowered and play an active part in all aspects of society.

Getting more women into power gives voice to a marginalised section of society, creates female role models and leads to legislative change and policies that tackle gender inequalities and discrimination. Peace settlements are 35% more likely to endure for more than 15 years if women have been involved in negotiations.

Increasing women’s political participation and leadership is a foundational pillar of DFID’s Strategic Vision for Gender Equality, launched in March 2018, and is a top priority in the current cross-Government National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.

Just 24% of national parliamentarians around the world are women. DFID programmes are supporting women to participate in politics.

In Nigeria, DFID’s ‘Women in Politics’ programme supports women elected to the National Assembly, including establishing the first women’s caucus as a forum for advocacy, policy development and training. In Afghanistan, DFID support has helped women provincial councillors who often face intimidation and violence in their work.

Women’s voice and leadership can make a real difference on issues that matter to them.

DFID has supported Amplify Change to fund women-led organisations that help women to claim their sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR). Grantees have driven change to policies and laws, such as the Registration of Marriage regulation in Afghanistan; improved access to SRHR services, information and products, such as providing 7000 girls in Tanzania with menstrual products; and transformed social norms including significant contribution to the eradication of child marriage in Cote d’Ivoire.

The UK is recognised as an international leader for our work to promote gender equality. DFID’s Strategic Vision commits us to build on our strong foundations of working to end violence against women and girls, support universal sexual and reproductive health and rights, improve girls’ education, and enable women’s economic and political empowerment. We are also stepping up our support of girls and women in conflict and crises, increasing our focus on adolescent girls, and harnessing the potential of technological innovation for gender equality. Our impact on gender equality is measured by our influence as well as our level of spending.

The Home Office has been working closely with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Asylum Advocacy Group (AAG) for many years, to help improve their approach to religious based claims and have recently worked with them recently to develop and produce a specialist training package.

The Asylum Learning and Development Team started to deliver the specialist training package on religious claims on Monday 8 April 2019, which will be mandatory for all asylum decision-makers.

The aim of this course is to ensure that where religion or belief is raised in an asylum claim, decision makers appropriately consider all the available evidence in accordance International, European & Domestic law and Home Office policy, when interviewing asylum seekers and making decisions on their claims.

In order to alleviate any concerns about the way in which vulnerable claims are dealt with, a review has been commissioned to investigate the way claims based on religious grounds and LGBT+ are assessed. The aim and approach of the Review will be to ensure that empathy and religious literacy is considered by Decision Makers when assessing these highly complex claims, acknowledging the impact of their decision whilst ensuring appropriate rigour is applied as these routes can be open to fraudulent claims.

The Home Office has been working closely with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Asylum Advocacy Group (AAG) for many years, to help improve their approach to religious based claims and have recently worked with them recently to develop and produce a specialist training package.

The Asylum Learning and Development Team started to deliver the specialist training package on religious claims on Monday 8 April 2019, which will be mandatory for all asylum decision-makers.

The aim of this course is to ensure that where religion or belief is raised in an asylum claim, decision makers appropriately consider all the available evidence in accordance International, European & Domestic law and Home Office policy, when interviewing asylum seekers and making decisions on their claims.

In order to alleviate any concerns about the way in which vulnerable claims are dealt with, a review has been commissioned to investigate the way claims based on religious grounds and LGBT+ are assessed. The aim and approach of the Review will be to ensure that empathy and religious literacy is considered by Decision Makers when assessing these highly complex claims, acknowledging the impact of their decision whilst ensuring appropriate rigour is applied as these routes can be open to fraudulent claims.

The Home Office has been working closely with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Asylum Advocacy Group (AAG) for many years, to help improve their approach to religious based claims and have recently worked with them recently to develop and produce a specialist training package.

The Asylum Learning and Development Team started to deliver the specialist training package on religious claims on Monday 8 April 2019, which will be mandatory for all asylum decision-makers.

The aim of this course is to ensure that where religion or belief is raised in an asylum claim, decision makers appropriately consider all the available evidence in accordance International, European & Domestic law and Home Office policy, when interviewing asylum seekers and making decisions on their claims.

In order to alleviate any concerns about the way in which vulnerable claims are dealt with, a review has been commissioned to investigate the way claims based on religious grounds and LGBT+ are assessed. The aim and approach of the Review will be to ensure that empathy and religious literacy is considered by Decision Makers when assessing these highly complex claims, acknowledging the impact of their decision whilst ensuring appropriate rigour is applied as these routes can be open to fraudulent claims.

The law is very clear that employers must make reasonable adjustments for employees and job applicants who meet the Equality Act 2010’s definition of disability, namely having a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative effect on the person’s ability to do normal daily activities. Where a disability is not obvious, it will be necessary for the employee or job applicant to declare their condition, but at that point the onus passes to the employer to meet its legal obligations.

To help employers comply with the law, the Government has issued guidance on the duty to make reasonable adjustments, here: https://www.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments-for-disabled-workers

In addition, guidance on this subject has been issued by Acas and by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which has also published a statutory code of practice for employers. Where employers fall short on their obligations, legal remedies exist for employees and job applicants, together with Acas’s early conciliation service, which aims to settle disputes before they reach the employment tribunal.

Disguised remuneration is an aggressive and contrived form of tax avoidance that involves a loan, which there is never any intention of repaying, being routed via a low or no-tax jurisdiction and then back to the United Kingdom, to avoid income tax and national insurance. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs takes a measured, proportionate and sympathetic approach to the collection of this tax, which has always been due.