Speeches by Turner.

“Do you believe that staying within the overall carbon budget limit sets a cap on the economic benefits that could be derived from aviation expansion?”

“The Chancellor announced at the end of January that the Government would support a third runway in principle. What was the involvement of the Department in coming to that announcement?”

“The Department already had an airspace modernisation programme priority. What effect does the Heathrow announcement have on your plans to modernise airspace?”

“Forgive me, but the question was on what impact Heathrow expansion would have on those programmes.”

“Thank you. When do you anticipate that work being available?”

“The Committee might be interested in what effect the announcement will have on the overall timeline compared with before the announcement for that work being completed, but perhaps that is something that we can return to at a different point. In 2018, the Government of the day said that they would require Heathrow airp…”

“Will you be updating the airports national policy statement to that effect?”

“I have one final question to the whole panel. If Heathrow expansion goes ahead, what carbon trade-offs may need to be made in other sectors? I appreciate that it is a broad topic.”

“Does anyone wish to come in on trade-offs in other parts of the economy?”

“I recently visited the Royal Orthopaedic hospital in my constituency, which has an outstanding veterans’ care service. Does the Minister agree that it is essential for former and current service personnel in Birmingham and beyond to continue to have access to specialised musculoskeletal rehabilitation services?”

“I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. My hon. Friend and I previously both advocated for and represented workers in children’s social care for Unison and the GMB respectively. Does he agree that driving up pay and terms and conditions for those workers is just as important in ch…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) on bringing forward this incredibly important debate and thank her for having the strength to share her experience. She has shone a light on a matter that will resonate with people in every constituency across the country. I rise to raise a related matter…”

“Are you still working to the targets as set by the second cycling and walking investment strategy?”

“That document set a short-term target to increase the percentage of short journeys in towns and cities undertaken by active travel to 46% by 2025. What is the current, or latest, figure?”

“Thank you. Chris, you said earlier that the 50% target was challenging. To push you a little further on that, is it still feasible?”

“I will come back to funding, Chair, but to pick up Graham’s point on the statistics, according to the national travel survey, compared with 10 years ago the number of walking journeys per head has increased, but the number of cycling journeys per head has fallen. You may feel that this question has been answered, becau…”

“Graham, going back to your comments on disability participation and working with local authorities, what does that work look like in practice, and do you monitor disability participation and set targets in that regard?”

“I see. One thing that has changed perhaps is the budget cuts, which you spoke about. I noted that your last annual report said that operating expenditure had fallen from £258 million in ’22-23 to £146 million, with most of that funding reduction coming from the local authority grants. What were the practical effects of…”

“I won’t speak for others, but I think we understand the importance of long-term certainty and funding. Returning to those in-year budget reductions for ’23-24, is it accurate to boil it down to saying that those projects not proceeding meant that fewer people are now cycling and the 50% target is harder to hit?”

“A final question because I am conscious that colleagues may want to come in on this topic. In your role as a statutory consultee, how stretched are you on all the planning applications and other topics you may be asked to take a view on?”