Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of use of the Smiths Detection System at Heathrow Airport Terminal 2 on (a) safety at airports and (b) national security.

The Department for Transport is in regular contact with all security regulated airports about upgrading their security checkpoints over the next few years. This includes Heathrow Airport. Decisions on the type of equipment that airports want to use at security checkpoints is between the airport and manufacturers.

Any equipment in use must meet the security standards set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) and be approved for use by the Department for Transport. Approved equipment can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/aviation-security-screening-approved-equipment-list. We do not provide specific details of the security equipment in use.