Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has developed contingency plans to respond to potential legal challenges to the proposed expansion to Heathrow airport.

Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government will take all necessary and appropriate actions to ensure a sound legal basis for its decisions.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with (a) statistical and (b) land registry authorities on the availability of land for use as public (i) walkways and (ii) cycleways.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Secretary of State has not had any such discussions. It is a matter for individual local authorities to establish what land is available in their areas for public walkways and cycleways.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many additional miles of (a) public footpaths, (b) bridleways, (c) restricted byways and (d) other public walkways and cycleways her Department plans to deliver by 2030.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government recognises that investment in high quality active travel infrastructure delivers high value for money and supports its economic growth, health and net zero missions. Encouraging more active travel helps to revitalise high streets, enable people to live longer and healthier lives and helps to reduce transport emissions and to promote greener journeys.

On 12 February, the Department announced the details of almost £300 million of funding for active travel in 2024/5 and 2025/6, which will deliver 300 miles of brand-new footpaths and cycle tracks. Total estimated benefits of this investment are £1.3 billion, including £9 million every year to the economy through improved productivity, equivalent to 43,000 fewer sick days a year, by making it easier to walk and cycle to work and for everyday journeys.

Beyond the funding announced by the Department on 12 February, any further mileage for active travel routes, delivered up until 2030, will be dependent on the outcome of the Spending Review.

Local authorities are empowered to decide where investment is made in their areas. As such, it is for local authorities to consider whether disused railway lines in their areas would be suitable for active travel routes and to work with National Highways, in their role as custodians of the Historical Railways Estate, to assess the viability of any particular routes.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an estimate of the number of miles of disused rail lines that could be developed into (a) cycleways and (b) walkways.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government recognises that investment in high quality active travel infrastructure delivers high value for money and supports its economic growth, health and net zero missions. Encouraging more active travel helps to revitalise high streets, enable people to live longer and healthier lives and helps to reduce transport emissions and to promote greener journeys.

On 12 February, the Department announced the details of almost £300 million of funding for active travel in 2024/5 and 2025/6, which will deliver 300 miles of brand-new footpaths and cycle tracks. Total estimated benefits of this investment are £1.3 billion, including £9 million every year to the economy through improved productivity, equivalent to 43,000 fewer sick days a year, by making it easier to walk and cycle to work and for everyday journeys.

Beyond the funding announced by the Department on 12 February, any further mileage for active travel routes, delivered up until 2030, will be dependent on the outcome of the Spending Review.

Local authorities are empowered to decide where investment is made in their areas. As such, it is for local authorities to consider whether disused railway lines in their areas would be suitable for active travel routes and to work with National Highways, in their role as custodians of the Historical Railways Estate, to assess the viability of any particular routes.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of dedicated (a) cycleways and (b) walkways on the economy.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government recognises that investment in high quality active travel infrastructure delivers high value for money and supports its economic growth, health and net zero missions. Encouraging more active travel helps to revitalise high streets, enable people to live longer and healthier lives and helps to reduce transport emissions and to promote greener journeys.

On 12 February, the Department announced the details of almost £300 million of funding for active travel in 2024/5 and 2025/6, which will deliver 300 miles of brand-new footpaths and cycle tracks. Total estimated benefits of this investment are £1.3 billion, including £9 million every year to the economy through improved productivity, equivalent to 43,000 fewer sick days a year, by making it easier to walk and cycle to work and for everyday journeys.

Beyond the funding announced by the Department on 12 February, any further mileage for active travel routes, delivered up until 2030, will be dependent on the outcome of the Spending Review.

Local authorities are empowered to decide where investment is made in their areas. As such, it is for local authorities to consider whether disused railway lines in their areas would be suitable for active travel routes and to work with National Highways, in their role as custodians of the Historical Railways Estate, to assess the viability of any particular routes.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of dedicated (a) cycleways and (b) walkways on public health.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government recognises that investment in high quality active travel infrastructure delivers high value for money and supports its economic growth, health and net zero missions. Encouraging more active travel helps to revitalise high streets, enable people to live longer and healthier lives and helps to reduce transport emissions and to promote greener journeys.

On 12 February, the Department announced the details of almost £300 million of funding for active travel in 2024/5 and 2025/6, which will deliver 300 miles of brand-new footpaths and cycle tracks. Total estimated benefits of this investment are £1.3 billion, including £9 million every year to the economy through improved productivity, equivalent to 43,000 fewer sick days a year, by making it easier to walk and cycle to work and for everyday journeys.

Beyond the funding announced by the Department on 12 February, any further mileage for active travel routes, delivered up until 2030, will be dependent on the outcome of the Spending Review.

Local authorities are empowered to decide where investment is made in their areas. As such, it is for local authorities to consider whether disused railway lines in their areas would be suitable for active travel routes and to work with National Highways, in their role as custodians of the Historical Railways Estate, to assess the viability of any particular routes.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Q52 of the oral evidence given by the Permanent Secretary to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 4 February 2025 HC 505, how many (a) rooms and (b) rooms were the ten hotels in question able to accommodate; and what the saving to the public purse will be as a result of their closure.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes numbers on people in hotels. It does not publish or report on number of rooms.

Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, and by local authority can be found on GOV.UK as part of the quarterly Immigration system statistics release. The Home Office also publishes information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Q32 of the oral evidence given by the Permanent Secretary to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 4 February 2025 HC 505, if she will (a) provide a detailed cost matrix for each role within the police and (b) set out how announced Government funding will support the recruitment of new officers.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Total funding to police forces will be up to £17.5 billion, an increase of up to £1.1 billion compared to the 2024-25 police funding settlement.

This includes fully covering the costs for the pay award, the increase in the employer national contributions, funding for officer maintenance and an additional £200 million to kickstart the first phase of recruitment for 13,000 additional police officers and PCSOs into neighbourhood policing roles.

For neighbourhood roles in 2025-26 we have asked forces to outline proposals for their workforce mix that is tailored to local needs and operational contexts, based on what is deliverable within their funding allocation.

This will ensure that additional neighbourhood personnel in 2025-26 are delivered in a manner that is flexible and easily adaptable to varied crime demands, allowing forces to increase the neighbourhood policing workforce at pace.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Q16 of the oral evidence given by the Permanent Secretary to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 4 February 2025 HC 505, whether her Department has conducted horizon scanning on (a) spontaneous far-right protests and (b) child sexual exploitation by organised networks.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office and our policing partners keep all risks of criminality under review on an ongoing basis.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what independent modelling her Department has used to conduct cost-benefit analysis of Heathrow expansion; and whether this analysis included consideration of (a) air pollution-related illnesses and premature deaths and (b) NHS expenditure.

Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer. Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement, which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow. The Government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals need to demonstrate that they contribute to economic growth, can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding commitments on carbon and meet strict environmental requirements on air quality and noise pollution.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of the expansion of (a) Heathrow and (b) Gatwick Airport on the level of nitrogen dioxide emissions in (i) Greater London and (ii) the South East.

Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer. Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement, which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow. The Government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals need to demonstrate that they contribute to economic growth, can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding commitments on carbon and meet strict environmental requirements on air quality and noise pollution.

On 27 February the Secretary of State has said she is ‘minded to approve’ the expansion of Gatwick Airport. Gatwick Airport is now asked to respond to the Secretary of State on the matters raised by 24 April 2025. The Secretary of State will make her final decision on or before 27 October. As this is a live planning application and the Secretary of State has a quasi-judicial role in this process we therefore cannot comment on it further.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed Heathrow airport expansion on trends in the level of particulate matter.

Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer. Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement, which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow. The Government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals need to demonstrate that they contribute to economic growth, can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding commitments on carbon and meet strict environmental requirements on air quality and noise pollution.

On 27 February the Secretary of State has said she is ‘minded to approve’ the expansion of Gatwick Airport. Gatwick Airport is now asked to respond to the Secretary of State on the matters raised by 24 April 2025. The Secretary of State will make her final decision on or before 27 October. As this is a live planning application and the Secretary of State has a quasi-judicial role in this process we therefore cannot comment on it further.

Rail fare increase

Refusal of Citizenship to refugees who have made irregular crossings

Future of the adoption and special guardianship support fund

Shortages of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy

Community pharmacies

Changes to Overseas Development Assistance

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