Transport Secretary refuses to step in to save Doncaster Sheffield airport

Anne-Marie Trevelyn told MPs that she would not use powers under the Civil Contingencies Act to keep the airport running, or meet with colleagues in Parliament to find a plan to save it.

It comes after repeated assurances by Liz Truss that she would do all she can to keep almost 3,000 jobs in the area.

Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary said: “Louise Haigh MP Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, said: “The Prime Minster promised in her first PMQs that she would do all she could to protect DSA from closure and here we are, less than a month from closure and the Prime Minster and the Secretary of State for Transport refusing to lift a finger.

“Losing the airport will not just be a huge blow for the region and wider North of England but will be devastating for the more than 2,900 people who work there.

“I have joined GMB colleagues and workers at Doncaster Sheffield Airport to hand in a 10,000 petition to the Department for Transport calling for the site to be saved. Our fight continues and I’m again urging the government to do the right thing, use the powers they have and save the airport and jobs.

“It is extraordinary that the Secretary of State refuses to even meet to discuss what more can be done.”

Earlier this month Liz Truss told Look North that she will “do what I can [to save it] and will talk to the relevant people,” rowing back from her comments in her first Prime Minister’s Questions where she pledged to “protect” the airport from closure.

The comments came during a bad-tempered session of Transport Questions in the House of Commons.

During the debate in Parliament, Dan Jarvis, the Barnsley MP and former mayor of South Yorkshire said that the Transport Secretary has received numerous requests for meetings from MPs and Oliver Coppard, the current South Yorkshire Mayor, and asked her for an “urgent meeting”.

Anne-Marie Trevelyn said that the Government was “disappointed” that the airport was closing, but that it was a “commercial decision” and did not agree to the meeting requested by Mr Jarvis.

When pressed again by Stephanie Peacock during a heated session of Transport Questions in the House of Commons, Ms Trevelyn said that she has asked her officials to meet with local leaders “in the very near future”, but would not commit to a meeting herself.

Referencing Liz Truss’ commitment to protect the airport, Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary said that the South Yorkshire mayor has written to Peel this morning with names of potential bidders.

Asked if she would use her powers under the Civil Contingencies Act to keep the airport open, Ms Trevelyn said that she had looked at the plans “in some detail” she said the decision would be for the Cabinet Office, but that she was “not persuaded” that the airport could be kept open under those provisions.

It is understood that the use of the Civil Contingencies Act to keep the airport open was part of commissioned legal advice from Lord Charlie Faulkner, the former justice secretary under Tony Blair.

A DfT spokesperson said: “The decision taken to close Doncaster Sheffield Airport by its owners is incredibly disappointing, not only for the passengers who use the airport, but also the businesses and staff based there.

“Since her appointment last month the Transport Secretary has met with Peel Group twice to encourage them to work with local leaders to find a solution for the site which will benefit local people and the region’s economy.”