During a House of Commons debate on Monday evening (24 October), Conservative MP for Don Valley Nick Fletcher said Peel campaigned for the £20 million initially in the form of an equity share, and then a loan, to secure the future of the airport.

He said Peel was "led a merry dance" by a combined mayoral authority of Doncaster, Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley, which provided "a catalogue of excuses and delays without clear process".

"I have been led to believe that first, it claimed there was no money, despite devolution; secondly, it failed to grasp state aid issues and made no effort to lobby on them and finally, environmental concerns were given as the reason why the £20 million loan was not even put to the leaders of the combined authority in March this year," he added.

Rebutting the claims, Labour MP for Barnsley Central Dan Jarvis said: "In the period from 2018 to the point of the mayoral election, we worked incredibly hard to support Peel and to work with the airport. 

"In April 2022, DSA indicated that it did not wish to continue developing the loan proposal at that time. It is hard not to conclude that what [Fletcher] has been told, although I think he is presenting it in good faith, is not the case."

Fletcher said the combined authority "appears never to have properly embraced Doncaster Sheffield airport as its own", and to have "badly underestimated" the economic loss to the region following its closure.

"This region has failed to behave sensibly under devolution, continuing to act in silos rather than devising and implementing a cohesive economic plan," he added. "The economic loss could be simply catastrophic.

"I asked Peel whether, if the £20 million had been made available this April, we would be in this position. Peel said no. Let me just leave that there for the House: if the £20 million had been made available, Doncaster Sheffield airport would not be closing.

"If we lose our airport, Peel will need to be held accountable, but the combined authority should be dissolved. It is not working, and it is not working for Doncaster."

In response to the debate, parliamentary under-secretary for the Department for Transport, MP Katherine Fletcher, praised Nick Fletcher’s "tenacity in championing this issue", adding she and the government were "deeply disappointed" in Peel’s decision to close DSA.

"It is a commercial decision made by the airport’s owners, and I am aware of the concerns about this decision among passengers, constituents across the South Yorkshire region, businesses and organisations in the supply chain and people who work at the airport," she said. 

"I make it clear that, although the UK government support airports, we do not own or operate them. Several opposition members have suggested that a meeting would magically unlock the situation, but I do not believe it would."

Fletcher said aviation minister Baroness Vere had met with Peel representatives on 19 October and had "strongly encouraged" them to "engage seriously with any interested parties", adding Vere had "received assurances" Peel management would do so.

"She has strongly encouraged the Peel Group to consider the offer of financial bridging support from the local authorities and the mayoral combined authority if it requires time to take forward discussions with investors," added Fletcher. "I understand that there are some questions that need to be addressed about the stepping stones to medium-term strategic viability, but she has discussed that with the Peel Group." 

Fletcher ended the debate by stressing "the final decision" on whether to accept any offer to save DSA rested with Peel "because this is a commercial airport site".