§ 2.34 p.m.
§ 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, prior to the rising of the House for the Summer Recess, they are in a position to make a Statement concerning progress made by the Civil Aviation Authority in the setting up of an Airline Users National Council.
§ THE MINISTER WITHOUT PORTFOLIO (LORD DRUMALBYN)My Lords, the Civil Aviation Authority is today announcing that it is in the process of establishing an Airline Users' Committee. It will sit under the chairmanship of my 1821 noble friend Lord Boyd-Carpenter, the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority which has the statutory responsibility for furthering the interests of users of air transport. The other members of the Committee, including the Deputy Chairman, will be drawn from persons outside the Authority able to speak from experience on a wide range of users' interests.
§ BARONESS BURTON OF COVENTRYMy Lords, in thanking the Minister for that statement and all those in this House who have helped to bring it about, may I ask the Minister whether he is aware that originally I had anticipated the Chairman of such a Committee being an independent; but considering that the Civil Aviation Authority will not itself be being inquired into, it would seem that having the noble Lord, Lord Boyd-Carpenter, as Chairman has advantages. May I ask the Minister whether he envisages that perhaps two of these advantages would be additional status for the Committee and the fact that matters referred from it to the Civil Aviation Authority might be expedited?
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Baroness and I am glad we have reached a solution to this very difficult problem. I quite agree with what the noble Baroness has said, and it is because the Civil Aviation Act of 1971 lays a specific duty on the Authority to further the reasonable interests of consumers of air transport that the Chairman of the C.A.A. has decided that it is right for him to take the Chair himself. It is a measure of the importance that he himself attaches to this responsibility that he has involved himself personally in the Committee's work, and I would agree with the noble Lady that this should enhance the status of the Committee.
§ LORD DERWENTMy Lords, could my noble friend say, as I am sure it would be of the utmost interest to the House, whether the noble Baroness, Lady Burton of Coventry, is going to be a member of the Committee?
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, I do not quite know how to answer that problem; I rather suspect the noble Baroness knows the answer better than I do. But I should not be at all surprised.
§ LORD SLATERMy Lords, would the noble Lord allow me to say that the making of this appointment is rather peculiar in itself? May I ask him whether he will pass on to the Government the fact that when the Post Office was made into a Corporation, all hell would have been let loose by members of his own Party if on that occasion we had taken such a decision as has been taken on this one?
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, there are very distinct differences in the position of the Civil Aviation Authority, which is there really to supervise the whole area of air transport, and that of the Post Office, which is an operating authority. There is a long section in the Post Office Act which is devoted to the establishment of the Post Office Users' National Council whereas so far as the Civil Aviation Authority is concerned there is no statutory provision for setting up its Consumer Committee, although it is doing so.
§ BARONESS BURTON OF COVENTRYMy Lords, may I just ask the Minister, in this happy state of affairs, whether he will recall that on Monday last in this House, as reported in column 1505 of Hansard, he referred to consultation services and the matter of check-in facilities at the West London Air Terminal. May I ask the noble Lord whether he is aware that I should expect and hope that this matter of the check-in facilities at the West London Air Terminal would be determined outside this Committee, and even before it started work? May I ask him furthermore whether he realises that I ask that question because of the extremely high level at which these matters are now being considered?
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, I think there are difficulties about this matter. If one is setting up a body of this sort it is natural that that body should be given the opportunity to discuss this issue. As the noble Baroness knows, the check-in facilities will not be withdrawn until January 1 and I have no doubt at all that the British Airways Board will pay attention to anything that the Committee may do on this matter.
§ BARONESS BURTON OF COVENTRYMy Lords, if the House will allow me, may I ask the Minister whether he 1823 realises how much I have appreciated his good humour and his tolerance over the past fourteen months, and that of his noble friend, Lord Ferrers? I hope he will also realise that even if one has to be a nuisance, one can appreciate at the same time.
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Baroness. I think she has done a great deal to bring this about; indeed, she can almost be said to have had the major part in doing so.