Covid-19 Update

Debate between Duke of Somerset and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Tuesday 17th March 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, transatlantic flights are continuing. As I said, certain airlines have made certain decisions to rationalise routes, but those routes continue to operate. The importance of international collaboration and ensuring that we work together as one was discussed at the G7. The noble Baroness asked about health services and staff at the front line. I will take that back to the Department of Health, but I assure her that, having had occasion to attend specific COBRA meetings, I know that this is very much a one-HMG effort, although, as we have seen, it includes the Chief Scientific Adviser, the Chief Medical Officer and representatives of NHS England—we have very much adopted an inclusive approach.

[The Duke of Somerset (CB)]

The Minister has spoken extensively about UK citizens needing to return from overseas, but many UK citizens here live and work abroad. Will the FCO be in a position to try to help them, bearing in mind that some of them will have no home base here in which to reside for the quarantine period?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, if I understand the noble Duke’s question correctly, the first port of call for British citizens who work and live abroad should be to contact the British high commission or embassy. If they are residents of another country, I am sure that they are being updated in accordance with the measures that that country is taking. If they are British citizens and they wish to return home here, that is a choice for them to make and we will, as far as possible, seek to facilitate that return. When this Statement was made in the other place, specific cases were raised about British citizens around the world. The first advice that we offer them is to contact their representatives at the UK embassy or high commission to see what support can be given to them on the ground. I repeat that we are seeking to ensure that commercial air routes continue to operate. As for specific assistance for UK residents from elsewhere in the world, this would be a decision for them to make. They would, of course, get whatever support is offered to any other UK citizen resident in the UK.

Airport Capacity

Debate between Duke of Somerset and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Tuesday 25th October 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

First, I assure the noble Lord that they are not soft words. I fully acknowledge that it may be a soft tone, which reflects the nature of your Lordships’ Chamber, but the message is very clear. The Government have today made a decision regarding the three viable options presented to us by a thoroughly researched report by the Davies commission. We have taken the decision today to proceed on one of those options: the new runway at Heathrow. Linked to that, we are following the designated process as laid out in the Planning Act 2008. I am sometimes asked how other countries have done this or that faster. We have a specific planning process that we need to follow; otherwise we are into the realms of other challenges—and I do not for a moment doubt that there will be other challenges. We need to ensure that our processes are robust, stand up to scrutiny and reflect our legislative processes. In this case, the 2008 Act is very clear and the national policy statement will now follow.

[The Duke of Somerset (CB)]

My Lords, first, we are not in an either/or situation. I think the Minister said that there would be no cost to the public purse, so is there any good reason why both Gatwick and Heathrow should not be allowed to develop an extra runway? This would provide competition for passengers and the extra benefits that the Minister outlined. Secondly, today’s announcement will have placed a great deal of blight on householders on the site in question. When will blight compensation be payable for people who wish to sell their houses now?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

First, on the point about allowing for both, the previous Administration under the previous Prime Minister commissioned the Davies commission to look at proposals specifically focused on single-runway capacity in the south-east. The Davies commission started with 50-odd proposals and whittled them down to three. The Government’s focus is on delivering that single runway by 2030.

On the noble Duke’s second question about compensation, we are now moving into those realms. I talked about proposing the NPS in the new year and starting the consultation. We have made very public the package for those who are impacted directly, particularly those who are losing their homes. They will get 25% above market value and the costs of stamp duty, moving and legal costs associated with their having compulsorily to sell their homes.

Airport Capacity

Debate between Duke of Somerset and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Monday 14th December 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

The noble Lord raises an important point about air freight, which of course contributes over 40% of the UK’s non-EU trade and over £140 billion in total, which is a very important part of the offering. As the noble Lord rightly pointed out, this is an important issue and one of the many factors we are considering. We will be working on the proposals in front of us from the Davies commission to ensure that the best decision is taken for expansion of airport capacity in the south-east. It is an important consideration and it will be part of our discussions going forward.

[The Duke of Somerset (CB)]

My Lords, might the Government consider spreading the pain and pollution by treating both Gatwick and Heathrow as just different terminals of the same London airport? A new runway at Gatwick, linked by dedicated high-speed rail link, might solve many of the problems that have been outlined this evening, as well as joining up the rail system with the other improvements that the Minister alluded to earlier.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

The Davies commission put forward distinct proposals on south-east airport expansion. The important thing he raises, which the Government are fully committed to, as I have said earlier, is that when it comes not only to our airports in the south-east but our airports across the UK, we need to look at increased connectivity through surface transport. Indeed, a greater level of investment is going on through Crossrail, and the development of HS2 will ensure that our connectivity across our airports across the United Kingdom will be much stronger to allow for greater contributions to be made to economic development and to allow one airport to complement the other.

Aviation Security

Debate between Duke of Somerset and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Thursday 5th November 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

As my noble friend will know from his own experience, these matters are very fluid. As I said, we are hoping to resume flights at the earliest possible time, as the Statement indicated. We want to ensure that we can facilitate the safe departure of those who want to leave as soon as possible. We are making sure that various factors are in place to ensure that we can facilitate that. The volume of people who wish to leave Sharm el-Sheikh requires certain logistics to be in place on the ground. As I indicated in responding to the noble Baroness, Lady Symons, we are working very closely with the airlines to ensure that the correct number of aircraft are available to facilitate the departure of this sizeable number of people. However, ultimately, we will be driven in all of this by the need to ensure that we are satisfied with the security arrangements for their safe passage and departure from Sharm el-Sheikh.

[The Duke of Somerset (CB)]

My Lords, a noble Lord asked about routeing. Some airlines have announced that they will change their routeing and some have refused to comment on their routeing. Is it possible to devise a mechanism whereby passengers can be reassured that their flights in the future will avoid some of the world’s trouble spots such as Syria and Iraq—and now we have to add Egypt?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

Airlines share information with their passengers as they consider appropriate. All that it is appropriate for me to say at this point is that the Government receive intelligence reports from across the world. We share certain reports with airlines and we share certain levels of advice. Based on that, and in the light of events, some of which the noble Duke has articulated, airlines make certain adjustments. We could go into the mechanics of the extent to which threats can be realised in some parts of the world and the height at which planes should be flying. All these things are of a very technical nature. However, the authorities, Governments and airlines correspond with each other on a regular basis with regard to security measures to ensure that passengers of whatever nationality, wherever they are in the world, can be protected across the world.