HC Deb 02 March 1983 vol 38 cc231-2
7. Mr. Lambie

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is now in a position to reply to the recommendations contained in the report of the Committee on Scottish Affairs on the future of Prestwick airport.

Mr. Younger

I did so on 23 February.

Mr. Lambie

I thank the Secretary of State and his hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Trade for their sympathetic replies to the Select Committee report on the future of Prestwick airport. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that many people will not accept that these landing and navigation charges do not form a serious deterrent to airlines using the airport? Will he reconsider his rejection of the Select Committee's recommendation that there should be a three-year standstill on these charges? Now that the Treasury working party has agreed in principle on free ports, will the right hon. Gentleman guarantee that we in Scotland will have his full support for the establishment of a free port at Prestwick?

Mr. Younger

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman and to his colleagues for their valuable report on this subject.

Landing charges represent an important aspect of the economics of the airport. As the hon. Gentleman knows, that matter is clearly within the responsibility of my right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State for Trade. I shall see that the hon. Gentleman's remarks are drawn to his attention.

The free ports idea is a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I have no doubt that he will have noted carefully what the Select Committee said.

Mr. Russell Johnston

Does not the Select Committee report and the earlier references to the Serpell report show the need for more effective co-ordination of public transport in Scotland? Has the Secretary of State given any thought to the Scottish Office fulfilling that role?

Mr. Younger

To some extent the Scottish Office does fulfil such a role. The Scottish Office has responsibility, in one form or another, for most forms of transport, and even indirectly for other forms of transport, which give it United Kingdom responsibilities. I assure the hon. Gentleman that the Scottish Office takes a close interest in trying to co-ordinate transport, which, after all, is an important part of Government policy.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that the creation of Aviation Industry park and the Prestwick airport development company could decisively assist with aviation-related industrial activity in the west of Scotland and be of substantial advantage to Scotland?

Mr. Younger

I welcome the Scottish Development Agency's initiatives in proposing that a study of Aviation Industry park should be commissioned. I wish it well in achieving results from that study. I agree that the Prestwick airport development company is an important suggestion, but a decision on it will have to await the outcome of consideration of the free port issue.

Mr. McKelvey

Does the Secretary of State share the disquiet of other Members of Parliament in the Ayrshire area when we read in The Scotsman that the working party considering the free port issue seems to favour Aberdeen as a forerunner, possibly to the exclusion of all other areas in Scotland? Will the right hon. Gentleman join us in underlining the importance of the role of Prestwick, particularly its future as a free port?

Mr. Younger

The details of what may emerge from that study are very much a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I am well aware of the importance of this aspect for Prestwick.

Mr. Gordon Wilson

Will the Secretary of State draw to the attention of his right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer the letter in The Times from Mr. Clive Sinclair, in which he says that if Dundee gets a free port another thousand jobs might be created to manufacture his products? It would seem that Prestwick should not be the only site for a free port in Scotland.

Mr. Younger

I know that my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer is well aware of that point.

Mr. McQuarrie

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his recommendation, which was mentioned by the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Mr. Lambie). Has not the tourist industry to be heavily involved if there is to be any question of Prestwick airport ever being viable?

Despite what the hon. Member for Kilmarnock (Mr. McKelvey) said, will my right hon. Friend, when discussing free ports with our right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, bear in mind that a free port would be most effective in an industrial area, such as Aberdeen, as jobs are being lost daily, despite the fact that it is supposed to be the golden city?

Mr. Younger

I appreciate my hon. Friend's latter point and I agree with what he said about tourism. It is worth emphasising that the British Airports Authority, in conjunction with the Scottish Tourist Board and the British Tourist Authority, has started a campaign to increase awareness of Prestwick in Canada and the United States. I warmly support that campaign and hope that it will produce results.