Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to pause plans to construct Phase One of HS2 until he has received assurances that they comply with the air quality standards and principles in the document Improving air quality in the UK: Tackling nitrogen dioxide in our towns and cities, published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in January 2016.

The air quality mitigation measures set out in the Environmental Statement and Supplementary Environmental Statements for the Phase One hybrid Bill, alongside the measures that will be taken forward as part of the HS2 Code of Construction Practice and agreed in the Local Environmental Management Plans, will ensure the construction of Phase one of HS2 is compliant with the principles set out in January 2016 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs document.