Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the recorded condition of Shaft No. 4 of the Queensbury Tunnel on the occasion of its last full inspection by examiners using rope access; and what assessment they have made of whether the low level of risk to surface properties has been appropriately communicated on the National Highways' Queensbury Tunnel project webpage.

The recorded condition of Shaft No.4 at the last inspection, which was carried out using rope access on 26 October 2015, was Fair (Fair is defined as having minor non-structural defects only). NH considers the risk of shaft 4 collapsing to be low at this stage and has continued to undertake visual examinations of Shaft 4.

National Highways (NH) is comfortable that the website appropriately articulates the level of risk to surface properties. NH continues to engage with owners of property above the tunnel to ensure any changes to the risk levels are clarified as soon as practicable.