Asked by: Justine Greening (Independent - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what dates (a) his Ministerial team and (b) officials of his Department have met with representatives of Heathrow Airport Limited as a result of the process to develop the Airports National Policy Statement since 2015.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Ministers and officials have met regularly with Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) since 2015 to discuss a wide range of issues relating to the operation of the UK’s largest airport, as well as the potential delivery of its expansion. These meetings are governed by propriety arrangements set out in the Statement of Approach, which is published online:
As per the Statement of Approach, Ministers and officials have not discussed the merits of the content of the Airports National Policy Statement with Heathrow Airport Limited.
Asked by: Justine Greening (Independent - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has received legal advice on the compliance with legal air quality limits of the proposal in the Airports National Policy Statement; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
As would be the case for any major Government policy, the proposed Airports National Policy Statement, including the content on air quality, has been subject to a number of legal reviews.
Asked by: Justine Greening (Independent - Putney)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, pursuant to her oral contribution of 7 June 2018, Official Report, column 466, on what date the Airports National Policy Statement debate will take place.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Business of the House is announced at Business Questions every Thursday.
As I outlined in the Chamber on 7 June: “The NPS was laid on 5 June and will be subject to a debate and vote in the House of Commons within 21 sitting days of laying the final NPS in Parliament. The last date that that can take place is 9 July 2018.”
Asked by: Justine Greening (Independent - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of new slots at an expanded Heathrow airport were forecast to comprise public service obligation flights in the calculation of the economic case for the Airports National Policy Statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Secretary of State has set out a clear ambition that about 15% of slots made available from a new runway should be used for domestic routes.
The Department’s modelling, which informed the economic case for the proposed Airports National Policy Statement, is primarily intended to inform long-term strategic decision-making. It does not account for specific airport business plans or potential interventions such as Public Service Obligations (PSOs) to protect and enhance domestic connectivity. This is also clearly set out in the Appraisal Report.
Under expansion, this modelling shows an initial increase of domestic flights followed by a steady decline as routes are squeezed out by the same market forces that are squeezing out marginal routes and flights today.
This is why the Government has committed to use this once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect slots for domestic routes at Heathrow. The Government will consider domestic connectivity and how PSOs can be used as part of the Green Paper on the Aviation Strategy which is due to be published towards the end of this year.
Asked by: Justine Greening (Independent - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Heathrow Airport Limited-funded Route Development Fund, whether he has secured a legal agreement on (a) how long the fund is continued by Heathrow Airport Limited (b) how much money is invested by (i) his Department and (i) Heathrow Airport Limited in the fund and (c) the conditions associated with the fund’s operation; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government welcomes Heathrow Airport Limited’s (HAL’s) pledge to introduce a £10 million Route Development Fund. HAL’s commitment to this fund will provide start-up support for airlines seeking to introduce new domestic routes from an expanded Heathrow Airport. Importantly, this fund will be entirely privately funded with no contribution from the taxpayer.
Government does not have any legal agreements in place with Heathrow on the fund. The proposed Airports National Policy Statement requires HAL to work constructively with its airline customers to protect and strengthen existing routes and it sets a clear expectation that expansion should deliver at least six new routes. This will be assessed as part of any Development Consent Order application.
Asked by: Justine Greening (Independent - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what legal agreements he has in place with Heathrow Airport Limited and its holding company on (a) air pollution in and around Heathrow and (b) surface access arrangements.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government believes that the Heathrow Northwest Runway scheme can and must be delivered without affecting the UK’s compliance with its air quality obligations, given the measures set out in the Government’s Air Quality Plan. The Government’s view has been informed by its air quality analysis of the Northwest Runway scheme, which was published in October 2017. This does not take into account scheme specific mitigations that any applicant could take forward to address its air quality impact.
The proposed Airports National Policy Statement requires the applicant to consider an extensive range of air quality mitigation measures, potentially including an emissions-based access charge. Development consent will only be granted if the Secretary of State is satisfied that, with mitigations, the scheme will be compliant with legal obligations on air quality.
The Department for Transport has no specific legal agreements in place with Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL) and its holding company on air pollution in and around Heathrow Airport.
In respect of surface access the Department has a number of legal agreements with HAL relating to Crossrail, HS2 and Heathrow Express:
Asked by: Justine Greening (Independent - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, at what stage of the construction of a third runway at Heathrow he plans to assess whether legal air pollution limits can be met; and when he plans to make that assessment.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has published a number of reports which have assessed the effect of the Heathrow Northwest Runway Scheme on compliance with air quality limits. Its latest air quality analysis for the scheme was published in October 2017 and demonstrates that, given the measures set out in the latest Air Quality Plan, the scheme would not affect the UK’s compliance with air quality limits. This analysis does not take into account scheme-specific mitigations that any applicant could take forward to address its air quality impact.
The proposed Airports National Policy Statement (NPS) is clear that development consent will only be granted if the Secretary of State is satisfied that, with mitigation, the scheme will be compliant with legal obligations on air quality.
Detailed conditions associated with the construction and operation of the Heathrow Northwest Runway Scheme, including the details of any enforcement or monitoring regime on air quality, would be determined through the planning process, in consultation with local communities and relevant stakeholders.
Asked by: Justine Greening (Independent - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to extend the Public Service Obligation designated route between Dundee Airport and London Stansted beyond 2019.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Officials will be having initial discussions with Dundee City Council and Transport Scotland before the end of June 2018, in which they will discuss the options available for after the current contract for this route ends in July 2019.
Asked by: Justine Greening (Independent - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has received legal advice on the compliance with legal air quality limits of the proposal in the Airports National Policy Statement; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
As would be the case for any major Government policy, the proposed Airports National Policy Statement, including the content on air quality, has been subject to a number of legal reviews.
Asked by: Justine Greening (Independent - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his Oral Statement of 5 June 2018 on Airports National Policy Statement, Official Report, column 169, whether there are any existing (a) legal mechanisms and (b) legally contracted agreements in place with Heathrow Airport Limited to enable the ringfencing of slots on a new runway at Heathrow Airport.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Slots at Heathrow are currently allocated by the independent slot coordinator Airport Coordination Limited (ACL) in accordance with the EU slot regulations. Government will take action, where appropriate, to secure routes through the use of Public Service Obligations. This includes the ring-fencing of appropriately timed slots.
The Government has no legally contracted agreements in place with Heathrow Airport Limited to enable the ring-fencing of slots but the proposed Airports National Policy Statement sets out an expectation that expansion at Heathrow will deliver an additional six domestic routes and this will be examined as part of any Development Consent Order application. The Secretary of State also has a clear ambition for about 15 per cent of slots made available from a new runway to be used for domestic routes.