Crossrail Bill

I very much support the amendment. I think that the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, went a little wider in his remarks, but it is probably good to do that in order to find out whether my noble friend is able to tell us today, or soon, the current status of the financing. The noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, raised the question of the Bill that may come before us following the next Queen’s Speech and what will happen if it does not. When the Bill started its passage through the other place, I thought there would have been a requirement to produce a financing plan or budget. I checked with the Clerks and that applies only to private Bills, not hybrid Bills because the Government usually provide all the funding. There was a hybrid Bill for the Channel Tunnel, but that was not government funded, so I am not sure where it comes. I think it is reasonable that, three plus years after the Bill started, we should have a financial report about how the money is to be raised and whether, as the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, said, the estimated costs are going to go up. Assuming that the Bill he talked about will take a bit less than a year to get through Parliament and that there are the procedures to do it, at what stage will a commitment to go ahead be made? It will be interesting to hear my noble friend’s comments on that.