Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2017 to Question 4566, how much his Department has spent (a) analysing the responses received to the draft Airports National Policy Statement and (b) undertaking an economic assessment of the effect of a new runway at Heathrow.

The Department has contracted an external provider to collect, analyse and report on the comments received from responses to the draft Airports National Policy Statement consultation, as well as the consultation on Airspace Policy that was run in parallel. These consultations closed on 25 May and we are currently analysing more than 70,000 responses, the vast majority of which relate to the draft National Policy Statement. As at the time of answering, the Department has spent approximately £458,000, excluding VAT, on this contract. The Government takes the views of the public very seriously and is considering the responses closely.

The economic assessment of the Heathrow Northwest Runway scheme, one of three shortlisted schemes, was published in the Further Review and Sensitivities Report in October 2016 and is largely based on evidence produced by the Airports Commission. This followed an internal review supported by two academics under contract for less than £5,000, which concluded that the evidence base was fit for purpose.