HC Deb 17 January 2001 vol 361 c259W
Mr. David Atkinson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement about the impact of the Transport Act 2000 on the CAA pension scheme. [145401]

Mr. Mullin

The Transport Act 2000 enables the Secretary of State to make an order providing for the allocation of assets, rights, liabilities or obligations between different sections of the Civil Aviation Authority Pension Scheme, subject to consultation with the Scheme Trustees. The provisions require the Secretary of State, in making an order, to secure that every potential beneficiary is in materially at least as good a position, as respects pension arrangements, as a result of the order. The Secretary of State proposes to exercise the power before the establishment of the Public Private Partnership for National Air Traffic Services, in order to ensure an equitable division of the fund between separate CAA and NATS sections.