Airports are responsible for the specific arrangements for low-level flightpaths and proposals to alter these arrangements must be approved by the Civil Aviation Authority\u2019s (CAA) Airspace Change Process. The Department fopr Transport has oversight of this process, and published revised air navigation guidance in 2017 underpinning the process, to ensure that a full assessment of the health effects of proposals to change flight paths is carried out.<\/p>
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This guidance requires airports who are seeking to make alterations to their flightpath arrangements to assess the impacts of different design options from an environmental perspective addressing issues such as aircraft noise and emissions. There is also a requirement for airports to consult with those communities who may be affected by the proposed changes to airspace and to take their views into account when finalising their proposals. This will then be taken into consideration by the CAA when making its final regulatory decision on the proposal.<\/p>
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Heathrow Airport Limited is responsible for taking forward the airspace arrangements it needs and is currently at the start of the second stage of the process, which is \u2018Option Development\u2019.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4584", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Sugg"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Sugg"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-03-12", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-03-12T14:27:26.153Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "27"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Transport"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Transport"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-02-26", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Heathrow Airport"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have undertaken an impact assessment of the the effect of new flight path design envelopes for Heathrow airport on (1) air quality, (2) decibel levels, and (3) house prices in (a) Chiswick, (b) Hammersmith, (c) Acton, and (d) Ealing.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/738", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Alton of Liverpool"} ], "uin" : "HL14038"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1078268", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Transport"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1078268/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Air quality is a national health issue, which this Government takes very seriously. This is why the Government recently published the Clean Air Strategy, which includes new measures and funding to cut pollution and save lives.<\/p>
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Public Health England is responsible for collecting data to better understand public health challenges. This data is publically available via the Public Health Outcomes Framework for England portal,[1]<\/sup><\/sup> which includes an indicator for air pollution expressed as the fraction of adult mortality attributable to long-term exposure to human-made particulate air pollution. The most recent published estimates available are for 2017. These show 6.4% for Hounslow, which is lower than the London average of 6.5%.<\/p> <\/p> The estimates do not cite a specific cause of death of any individual, but reflect an equivalency which is used to assess the impacts of particulate air pollution contributing to death.<\/p> <\/p> With regard to Heathrow expansion, the Airports National Policy Statement is clear that development consent would not be granted if the Secretary of State for Transport is not satisfied that the scheme would be compatible with legal obligations on air quality.<\/p> <\/p> As part of the development consent process, an applicant is required to undertake a detailed assessment of the air quality effects of the scheme, including during construction, and to put forward to the Planning Inspectorate an appropriate package of mitigations where necessary to ensure compliance with air quality obligations. The applicant is also required to produce a detailed Health Impacts Assessment to set out the scheme\u2019s impacts on public health, including from worse air quality.<\/p> <\/p>