The Department for Transport has published a policy paper setting out its ministerial and official engagement on the review of the Airports National Policy Statement and the draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement consultation. The document was released on 23 October 2026 and summarises contacts between DfT ministers, officials and external stakeholders during the consultation period.
The report records the nature and extent of engagement rather than policy decisions, giving a formal account of who the Department met and the subjects discussed. It covers both the wider Airports National Policy Statement review and matters specific to the draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement.
The Department describes the paper as part of its transparency commitments, placing a contemporaneous record in the public domain. The material supplies an official log that may be used by interested parties to trace the flow of dialogue between government and sector representatives during the consultation.
The publication does not itself alter the content of the Airports National Policy Statement or the draft Heathrow Expansion document. It is presented as an administrative record of engagement activity rather than as a consultation response or a statement of intent.
What the report sets out
The core of the paper is a factual account of ministerial and official meetings, calls and exchanges with stakeholders. It specifies that the engagements relate to both the overarching Airports National Policy Statement review and the draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement consultation.
The document is descriptive: it identifies topics covered in discussions and denotes the level of government representation in each engagement. The DfT frames the paper as a means to provide clarity about the Department's contacts while the consultation process ran.
Wider context
The DfT publication sits alongside the formal consultation materials for the Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement and the ongoing review of the Airports National Policy Statement. It serves as an adjunct to those processes by documenting how ministers and officials engaged with external interests while policy work proceeded.
By placing this engagement record in the public domain the Department allows observers to understand the pattern of contact between government and stakeholders during a major infrastructure consultation. The paper does not, however, record the content of submissions made through the consultation portal or any ministerial conclusions reached as a result.
The report will be of interest to campaigners, local authorities, business groups and others who followed the Heathrow consultation or the wider NPS review. As an administrative record it creates a single reference point for those wishing to track the course of engagement over the consultation timetable.
The Department for Transport’s publication is concise in scope and careful in tone. It is presented as a companion piece to the substantive consultation documents and the Airports NPS review material rather than as an independent policy announcement.
Readers seeking the detailed outcomes of the consultation or the final position on Heathrow expansion will find those matters addressed in the formal decision documents that follow consultation and review stages. The engagement paper should be read as a transparency tool that chronicles contacts rather than as a source of new policy.
The release date of the paper is 23 October 2026, reflecting the DfT’s record of activity during the relevant consultation period. The Department’s publication makes clear that the paper’s purpose is to support openness about official and ministerial dialogue while statutory consultation work was under way.
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