Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Harris of Haringey (Labour). It was answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour) on Wednesday, 26 March 2025.

Heathrow Airport Closure: Resilience and Security

Question: To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications of the closure of Heathrow airport following an electricity substation fire for the resilience of the electricity grid and the security of such substations.

Answer: My Lords, I extend my sympathies to all those affected by what happened at Heathrow. I also wish to praise the efforts of all the people who worked so hard to get Heathrow up and running again. The Government work continuously with industry, regulators and other stakeholders to improve and maintain the resilience and security of energy infrastructure and to minimise the risk of unplanned outages. Alongside Ofgem, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State commissioned the National Energy System Operator to carry out a review to investigate the power disruption to Heathrow. Once we have all the information, we will be best placed to understand any wider lessons to be learned on energy resilience and security for critical national infrastructure.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 844 cc1676-9
Session: 2024-26
Oral question type: Lead
Procedure: Topical questions (HL)
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Closures Infrastructure Fires Heathrow Airport Security Electrical substations
Link: View this Oral question on hansard.parliament.uk