§ BARONESS BURTON OF COVENTRYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper:
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are in a position to announce the date of publication of the report on Heathrow Airport to be made by the Metra Consulting Group and, if not, when they expect to be able to do so.
§ BARONESS BURTON OF COVENTRYMy Lords, I thank the noble Earl. May I ask him whether he is aware how much his attitude is appreciated, even though the Answers are frequently unsatisfactory? Having said that, may I ask him whether, in view of the hard labour put in, I can be listed as an interested party and have a copy of the Report?
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, nobody would have thought that the noble Baroness was not an interested party, and I will see that she has a copy of the report.
§ LORD ORR-EWINGMy Lords, can my noble friend say how many members of the public actually wrote in to Metra as a result of his agreement that representations could be made and put to them? Has advantage been taken of that offer?
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, the public were able to write to Metra, but in fact only one person did so. The com- 942 plaint was about the type of soap in the soap dispensers in one of the lavatories.
§ BARONESS BURTON OF COVENTRYMy Lords, while I am reluctant to disturb the harmony of this exchange, may I ask the Minister whether he will not agree that the public had no opportunity of knowing that they could write to the Metra company unless they happened to read the Lords Hansard of that particular date, and that the noble Earl was not able to offer any publicity to the public to make known this facility?
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, I made no bones of the fact that, while Her Majesty's Government were entirely happy that people should write to Metra, suggestions were not specifically invited for fear that the type of suggestion or complaint that might come in would be of the kind contained in the one letter to which I have referred.