Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 15980 on Gatwick Airport, whether the previous Secretary of State for Transport met with groups opposing Gatwick Airport expansion.
Answered by Mike Kane
The previous Secretary of State for Transport did not meet with groups opposing Gatwick Airport expansion.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 15981 on Gatwick Airport, whether the previous Secretary of State for Transport met with representatives of Gatwick Airport to discuss the proposed expansion.
Answered by Mike Kane
The previous Secretary of State did not meet with representatives of Gatwick Airport to discuss the proposed expansion.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2024 to Question 15348 on Gatwick Airport: Noise, what measures the Aviation Night Noise Effects study will use to investigate the potential impact of flight noise on children's (a) sleep quality and (b) health and development.
Answered by Mike Kane
The Aviation Night Noise Effects study has been developed to examine the relationship between exposure to night-time aviation noise and sleep disturbance and annoyance in adults and has not been designed to investigate effects on children.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will take steps to help local authorities speed-up the processing of blue badges.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport sets the legislation that governs the Blue Badge scheme and provides guidance for local authorities who are solely responsible for administering the scheme, including issuing the badges.
There are no timescales set for administering applications other than a suggested guideline that issuing authorities should aim to complete end to end applications within 12 weeks.
80% of citizens apply for a badge from their local authority using the Blue Badge Digital Service (BBDS) operated by the Department for Transport. The Department has a programme of continuous improvement of the digital service with the aim of making online badge applications quicker and easier for applicants and local authorities.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with campaign groups opposing the expansion of Gatwick airport.
Answered by Mike Kane
The Secretary of State for Transport has had no discussions with campaign groups opposing the expansion of Gatwick Airport.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on public safety of proposals to expand use of the emergency runway at Gatwick airport for commercial flights.
Answered by Mike Kane
A proposal to expand use of the northern runway at Gatwick Airport is currently subject to a live application for a Development Consent Order, which will be determined by my Department. It would therefore not be appropriate for me to comment but all relevant matters, including safety and noise, will be thoroughly considered before a decision is issued, the statutory deadline for which is 27 February 2025.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of night-time flight noise on wildlife living in Gatwick Airport's flight path.
Answered by Mike Kane
A proposal to expand use of the northern runway at Gatwick Airport is currently subject to a live application for a Development Consent Order, which will be determined by my Department. It would therefore not be appropriate for me to comment but all relevant matters, including safety and noise, will be thoroughly considered before a decision is issued, the statutory deadline for which is 27 February 2025.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times she has met with representatives of Gatwick Airport to discuss the proposed expansion.
Answered by Mike Kane
The Secretary of State for Transport has not met with representatives of Gatwick Airport to discuss the proposed expansion at the airport.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the Civil Aviation Authority on steps to ensure that airspace modernisation around Gatwick airport leads to a reduction in noise levels for residents.
Answered by Mike Kane
The department has regular engagement with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to monitor the effective delivery of airspace modernisation and drive forward the environmental benefits of the programme.
In its role as independent regulator, the CAA ensures that all airspace change proposals (ACPs) adhere to the CAP1616 process. CAP1616 sets out how sponsors of airspace change, such as Gatwick Airport, must consider the impacts of noise on the local communities, ensuring sufficient consultation takes place with those potentially affected.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of night-time flight noise on the health of residents living in Gatwick airport's flight path.
Answered by Mike Kane
The Government sets noise-related restrictions at Gatwick, including a limit on the number of night flights. The noise impacts of the airport are assessed annually.
The Department for Transport has commissioned the Aviation Night Noise Effects study to explore how annoyance and sleep disturbance impacts vary at different times of the night. The final results are expected to be published in Autumn 2026.