Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to assess the potential cost of relocating the Lakeside Energy from Waste Facility in the event of a decision being made to permit the construction of the North West Runway at Heathrow Airport.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
On 14 December 2015, the Government formally announced that it accepted the case for airport expansion in the South-East and agreed with the Airports Commission’s shortlist of options. The Government also decided to undertake a package of further work which it anticipates will conclude over the summer. This has included further work to help develop the best possible package of measures for all the shortlisted schemes to mitigate the impacts on local people and the environment.
The decision on a preferred scheme is of huge importance and the Government continues to consider the detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps. The costs associated with the Lakeside Energy from Waste Plant were considered in the Airports Commission’s assessment of land acquisition costs in the report “Cost and Commercial Viability: Cost and Revenue Identification Update Heathrow Airport North West Runway”.
Decisions have not yet been taken on a preferred scheme. However, if the Government was minded to support the North-West runway at Heathrow, the planning and costs of moving the Energy from Waste Plant would be a matter for the airport to take forward with the owners of the site.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will support changing the Air Traffic Management in the Future Airspace Strategy to give residents a higher priority than commercial interests.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
As part of the Government’s ongoing review of its airspace and noise policies, consideration is being given to ensuring that an appropriate balance exists between the beneficiaries of airspace changes and residents who may be affected by them.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of autonomous emergency braking systems in reducing the number of road traffic accidents.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Department has not made any detailed assessment of the effectiveness of autonomous emergency braking systems, but we are aware that a number of studies have highlighted the potential for a reduction in collisions. Most trucks exceeding 8 tonnes and coaches registered after 1 November 2015 are fitted with it, and we support measures by EuroNCAP to encourage its fitment in new cars.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will raise the ceiling at which aircraft may be vectored from 4,000 to 7,000 feet.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Government is considering vectoring practices by air traffic controllers as part of a wider review of its policies on airspace and noise.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to publish a health impact assessment on proposals for new airport runways of (a) the health effects of noise and (b) other health effects before the construction of those runways is started.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Government is currently considering the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of moving the Lakeside Energy from Waste Plant from its current site; and what his policy is on whether that cost would be met by Heathrow Airport or the Government.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Government is currently considering the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.
The Airports Commission considered the costs associated with the Lakeside Energy from Waste Plant in its assessment of land acquisition costs. This is included in the report “Cost and Commercial Viability: Cost and Revenue Identification Update Heathrow Airport North West Runway”.
It is important to note that no decisions have been taken, but if the Government was minded to support the need for new runway capacity and concluded that the North-West runway at Heathrow was the preferred option for meeting this requirement, the planning and costs of moving the Energy from Waste Plant would be a matter for the airport to take forward with the owners of the site.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential change in risk of flooding in South East England if Heathrow Airport expansion were to proceed.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Government is currently considering the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.
The Government will carefully consider all the evidence set out, including that on flood risk, when making a decision on additional runway capacity.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the noise impact of the Future Airspace Strategy on Windsor constituency.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Government has not made such an assessment.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) led Future Airspace Strategy provides a framework for how the UK’s airspace should be managed in the future. It is a CAA requirement that any proposer of an airspace change should consult with their local communities on how the implementation of the strategy will affect them.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if the Government will introduce a cap on the amount of public money used to fund surface access costs arising from the construction of a new airport runway at Heathrow and Gatwick airports.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Government is currently considering the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report, including its examination of the costs and financing of the schemes, before taking any decisions on next steps.
In terms of surface access proposals, the Government has been clear that it expects the scheme promoter to meet the costs of any surface access proposals that are required as a direct result of airport expansion and from which they will directly benefit.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is considering a ban on all night flights at Heathrow Airport.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Airports Commission’s final report recommended noise mitigation options such as a ban on night flights, in the event of a decision to expand Heathrow.
The Government’s position on airports capacity has not changed since the Airports Commission published their final report on 1 July 2015. Government is still reviewing all of the evidence before coming to any decisions.
The Prime Minister has said a decision will be made by the end of the year.