2nd Special Report - Airport expansion in the South East: Government response to the Committee's Third Report of Session 2015–16

This is the government's response, published 19 July 2016.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government agrees that the case for airport expansion is clear but says it needs to "take the time to reach the right view" on a preferred scheme, and that any announcement is "likely to be in October at the earliest".

• On the Committee's preference for a third runway at Heathrow, the Government "notes" the comments and is "continuing to consider" the Airports Commission's evidence; it does not think it "appropriate to comment on specific pieces of evidence before reaching a view on a preferred scheme".
• It states that it "agrees that it is vital to secure the best possible package of mitigations for affected local communities", and says work continues on air quality, noise, carbon and community compensation.
• It does not accept that a timetable for the decision should be published. On the Cabinet sub-committee, it says information on Cabinet Committee proceedings is "generally not disclosed" because disclosure "could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion".
• The Government says it "intends to publish the draft National Policy Statement for consultation after any announcement on a preferred scheme", that the Department for Transport will publish further air quality analysis "in due course", and that it intends to meet the 2030 capacity timetable.

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