Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to assess the potential effect of a third runway at Heathrow on air quality around that airport.

The Airports Commission published a large amount of analysis on air quality for their three shortlisted schemes. It is my intention to test the Commission’s air quality analysis against the Government’s new Air Quality Plan. This was a recommendation of the Environmental Audit Committee alongside other recommendations that I will fully consider in due course.