A
BILL
TO
Make provision for a national referendum on whether the proposed
construction of the HS2 railway should be supported financially by the UK
taxpayer.
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
(1)
A referendum is to be held on whether the UK taxpayer should support
financially the HS2 railway.
(2)
The referendum must be held before the commencement of construction of the
5HS2 railway.
(3)
The Secretary of State shall by regulations, and with a minimum of three
months notice, appoint the day on which the referendum is to be held.
(4) The question that is to appear on the ballot papers is—
“Do you support the use of UK taxpayers’ money to pay for the construction
10of the HS2 railway?”.
(5)
In Wales, a Welsh version of the question is also to appear on the ballot papers,
as provided by regulations.
(6)
Regulations under this section shall be made by statutory instrument and may
not be made unless a draft of the regulations has been laid before, and
15approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.
Those entitled to vote in the referendum are the persons who, on the date of the
referendum, would be entitled to vote as electors at a parliamentary election in
any constituency.
HS2 Funding Referendum BillPage 2
(1)
Each person entitled to vote in the referendum shall be supplied with an
information booklet summarising the costs and benefits to UK taxpayers of the
construction of the HS2 railway.
(2)
5The content, publication and distribution of the information booklet in
subsection (1) shall be the responsibility of the Electoral Commission.
There shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament—
(a) any expenditure of the Secretary of State in consequence of this Act,
(b)
10any expenditure of the Electoral Commission in commissioning, producing
and distributing the information booklet required by section 3, and
(c)
any increase attributable to this Act in the sums which under any other Act
are payable out of money so provided.
(1) 15This Act extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
(2) This Act may be cited as the HS2 Funding Referendum Act 2015.