Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the long-term health effects of the construction of Heathrow Airport's proposed third runway on people living in the Thames Valley region (a) during and (b) after its construction.

The Department for Transport carried out a Health Impact Analysis as part of the Appraisal of Sustainability to support the Airports National Policy Statement. The Health Impact Analysis identified impacts which could affect people’s health, including noise, air quality and socio-economic impacts.

The Government is clear that expansion cannot come at any cost and the Airports National Policy Statement sets out how any scheme promoter seeking to take forward an application for development consent is required to undertake a further project level Health Impact Assessment. Any application should propose measures which seek to maximise the health benefits of the scheme and mitigate any negative health impacts.

The Airports National Policy Statement, and all accompanying documents – including extensive analysis, are available online.