Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what projections his Department has made for passenger numbers for the Western Rail Link to Heathrow.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Alongside expansion of Heathrow Airport, the Western Rail Link to Heathrow is forecast to carry over 2 million airport passengers to and from Heathrow Airport, as well as a significant number of employees of Heathrow Airport and non-airport rail passengers travelling between London and locations west of Heathrow Airport.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the community impact consultation being conducted by Heathrow Airport on its expansion plans.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Heathrow Airport Limited are currently undertaking a public consultation on their plans to develop a Northwest Runway and associated infrastructure involving 40 events and sending information to approximately 2.7 million households. This is a statutory consultation, which should be carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Planning Act 2008 and associated legislation and guidance.
The assessment of the adequacy of the consultation, being conducted by Heathrow Airport Limited on its expansion plans, is something which the Secretary of State would consider as part of making a decision on whether or not to accept an application for development consent by that company. In making that decision the Secretary of State is statutorily bound to have regard to the consultation report accompanying the application, as well as other matters, such as any responses from local authority consultees about the adequacy of the consultation. That report has not been produced yet and the consultation is ongoing.
It would be premature to comment on the adequacy of Heathrow Airport Limited’s consultation at this time, but it is something that would be carefully considered in the event of an application for an order granting development consent being made.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of potential changes to the investment grade credit rating of Heathrow Airport on the (a) airport’s expansion plans and (b) provisions of the Aviation National Policy Statement.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is clear that the Northwest Runway scheme will be financed in its entirety by the private sector. As a private company, decisions that could impact its credit rating are a matter for Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) and its investors.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), as the independent economic regulator, has a duty to ensure that HAL can finance its airport operations. In its CAP1832 working paper on financial resilience and ring-fencing, published in August 2019, the CAA considered that the potential for a regulatory obligation on HAL to maintain an investment grade credit rating was worthy of further exploration. Comments from stakeholders are invited by 11 October 2019 ahead of a further working paper on the matter.
The Government, with our independent expert advisers, and the CAA have conducted assurance work on the finance and affordability of HAL’s expansions proposals. This work has concluded that, so far as can be assessed at this stage of the process, and assuming current market conditions, HAL is in principle able to privately finance expansion without government support.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is Government policy to support the construction of a third runway at Heathrow airport.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Airports National Policy Statement was designated as government policy in June 2018 following a vote in the House of Commons.
It sets out that there is a need to increase airport capacity in the South East of England by 2030 by constructing one new runway and that this need is best met by the Northwest runway scheme at Heathrow airport.
The government is clear that expansion cannot come at any cost, and must be in the interest of the consumer. The Airports National Policy Statement includes strict environmental requirements which an applicant for development consent must demonstrate it can meet.
The Court of Appeal has granted permission to hear from appellants in October this year. This follows the High Court’s decision to dismiss all 26 grounds raised in the judicial review of the previous Secretary of State’s decision to designate the Airports National Policy Statement.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the planned expansion of Heathrow does not contribute to an increase in air pollution.
Answered by Grant Shapps - Secretary of State for Defence
In regards to air quality, following designation of the Airports National Policy Statement, it is now down to an applicant for development consent to undertake a detailed assessment of the air quality impacts of its scheme, including during construction, and put forward an appropriate package of mitigations that address air quality impacts and demonstrate compliance.
In order to grant development consent, I would need to be satisfied that, with mitigation, the scheme would be compliant with legal obligations.
Separately, my Department will also be working to speed up the research, development and adoption of low and zero carbon aviation technology.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he will take to offset the carbon emissions from increased aviation into and out of Heathrow following its proposed expansion.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The UK takes a leading role in tackling greenhouse gas emissions, and on 27 June 2019, the UK became the first major economy in the world to set a 2050 net zero target to end its contribution to climate change.
Whilst international aviation emissions currently only represent 2% of international emissions, aviation must play its part in achieving net zero carbon emissions. The Government will propose a long-term vision for UK aviation carbon and a pathway to achieve this in the Aviation 2050 white paper due to be published later this year. Any expansion at UK airports, including Heathrow, will need to demonstrate it is consistent with this vision.
The UK will continue to play a key leadership role in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The UK has already played a crucial role in successfully negotiating and securing the first ever global measure to reduce emissions in a single sector in the form of the carbon offsetting and reduction scheme for international aviation (CORSIA). We will also negotiate for a long-term goal for international aviation that is consistent with the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement, ideally by ICAO’s 41st Assembly in 2022.
To better understand the role offsetting emissions can play in achieving future carbon goals, the Government launched a call for evidence on offsetting carbon emissions produced by transport on 18 July 2019. The call for evidence invites views on whether transport operators should have to offer offsetting to passengers. It also explores the public understanding of carbon emissions from the journeys they make and the options to offset them.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the potential reduction in emissions from aviation as a result of reduced stacking in the event of the completion of a third runway at Heathrow airport.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The UK has embarked on an ambitious programme of airspace modernisation, one of the key drivers of which is to reduce aviation’s environmental impact. This programme should allow more direct routing, reduce delays, enable aircraft to climb at a faster rate, and also reduce the amount of stacking.
With regards to Heathrow expansion, the environmental impact of the proposed airspace changes linked to this development, including their likely effect on CO2 emissions, will be assessed in coming years through the statutory Civil Aviation Authority airspace change process. Therefore there is currently no estimate of the reduction in emissions as a result of modernising Heathrow’s airspace.
The Airports National Policy Statement is also clear that a new Northwest Runway will not receive development consent unless, with mitigation, it can demonstrate compliance with legal obligations on air quality.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to undertake local noise surveys in communities that will be affected by the expansion of capacity at Heathrow.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) has made significant investment in noise surveying in recent years and now has over 44 noise monitors deployed around the airport. This is up from 15 noise monitors three years ago and the airport intends to invest more in noise monitoring in the future. Noise measurements from these monitors are used to validate the computer-modelled noise exposure contours produced by the Civil Aviation Authority.
The Government’s Aviation Strategy includes proposals to create minimum standards for noise monitoring around airports and we welcome views from all stakeholders in response to this.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to conduct an optimism bias assessment on public sensitivity to aviation noise in communities that are likely to be affected by expansion at Heathrow.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Department for Transport guidance sets out how we should consider optimism bias when appraising transport schemes. In the case of Heathrow expansion, we estimated noise impacts using a central demand scenario in order to provide estimates consistent with the rest of the appraisal. In order to test worse case impacts, a higher demand scenario was used in the revised Appraisal of Sustainability (AoS).
The 2014 Survey of Noise Attitudes (SoNA) recognises that attitudes towards aviation noise are changing. The work carried out during the SoNA study shows that sensitivity to aircraft noise has increased, with the same percentage of people being highly annoyed at lower levels of noise than in a past study. As a result, the Government has introduced new metrics and appraisal guidance to assess noise impacts and their impacts on health and quality of life. This will ensure that the noise impacts of proposed airspace changes are considered much further away from airports than at present.
The Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise (ICCAN) began work earlier this year, and will focus on developing best practice guidance in aviation noise management.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Civil Aviation Authority data which shows that the number of domestic aviation routes with more than 1,000 passengers per year has fallen from 228 in 2007 to 188 in 2017.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Aviation in the UK operates in the private sector and it is for airlines to determine which routes they should operate. However, the Aviation 2050 consultation acknowledges the benefits regional airports and connectivity can bring to the regions and seeks views on what further actions government could take to enhance and support these connections. The consultation closes on 20 June.
Where domestic routes have previously been squeezed out of Heathrow over time, expansion of the airport will provide an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen existing domestic connections and deliver new ones.
The Airports National Policy Statement sets a clear expectation that an additional runway at Heathrow will deliver at least 14 domestic routes. We expect many of these connections will be commercially viable. This will ensure that regions are increasingly well connected to the capital and the UK’s biggest airport, supporting new business, tourism and cultural links across the globe.