§ Andy KingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give an early response to the Midlands section of the National Consultation on the Future of Air Transport. [85736]
§ Mr. JamiesonThis is a national consultation and decisions taken in one area will have an effect on decisions for other parts of the UK. Therefore, we will make our decisions in the Air Transport White Paper, based on consideration of all responses received across the UK, once the extended consultation period has finished.
29W
§ Mr. John TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if it is his policy that before any option for Birmingham Airport is included in the White Paper, he will satisfy himself that the shareholders have sufficient funds available to fund the option stated in the White Paper. [85863]
§ Mr. JamiesonOptions included in the Air Transport White Paper will form a strategic framework for air transport in the UK for the next 30 years. We will wish to assure ourselves, as far as foreseeable, that preferred options have a reasonable prospect of being financially deliverable.
§ Mr. John TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the Air Transport Consultation Process, whether the 30 year economic appraisal for the second runway at Birmingham Airport will commence in the year following completion. [85864]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe benefit stream for Birmingham International airport, with an additional second runway, has been estimated from the year following completion. The economic performance will vary depending upon the year of opening.
§ Tom BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many aircraft departed from(a) Heathrow, (b) Gatwick and (c) Stansted airports in each month since December 2000, broken down by aircraft type; and which are exempt from noise limit standards announced on 18 December 2000. [86105]
§ Mr. Jamieson22 individual aircraft, which were given specific exemptions from the Chapter 2 phase out provisions in the EC Directive 92/14, were also given exemptions from the new daytime noise limit (94dBA Lmax) announced on 18 December 2000 and introduced on 25 February 2001. The exemptions applied until 31 March 2002.
During this period the actual number of departures by relevant aircraft was as follows:
All of these movements were by DC8F-55s; none exceeded 94dBA at the relevant noise monitor, even though exempt from that limit.
- Heathrow Nil
- Gatwick Two (both in January 2002)
- Stansted Two (one in March 2001, one in January 2002)
§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will ensure that a Minister from his Department attends a public meeting on Canvey Island, organised by the hon. Member for Castle Point, to discuss the Government's Cliffe Airport option. [86522]
§ Mr. JamiesonMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport announced to Parliament on 28 November 2002,Official Report, columns 474–75, that the consultation on airports capacity will be kept open until we have consulted on options for new runways in relation to Gatwick.
We will set out our plans for the remaining stage of the consultation process when we publish the further consultation paper in the new year.
§ Tom BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many responses had been received by 30 November in response to(a) the consultation 30W document, Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: A National Consultation and (b) each of the regional consultation documents on the Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom (i) in total and (ii) for each region; [85209]
(2) how many copies of the (a) main document and (b) summary of the (i) national and (ii) regional consultation documents on Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom have been issued in hard copy as a result of each exhibition which has taken place to promote the consultation as of 30 November; [85211]
(3) how many copies of the (a) main document and (b) summary of the consultation documents (i) Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: A National Consultation, (ii) Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: North of England, (iii) Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: South West, (iv) Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: Midlands, (v) Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: Wales and (vi) Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: South East have been (A) issued in hard copy and (B) downloaded from the website by 30 November; [85208]
(4) what the cost to his Department has been of (a) the exhibitions promoting the consultation documents on the Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom and (b) the printing costs relating to the publication of the consultation documents as of 30 November. [85210]
§ Mr. JamiesonAs at 30 November a total of over 118,000 main and over 180,000 summary consultation documents had been issued. A breakdown by area for both hard copy and website downloads is given as follows. The figures include consultation documents distributed at public exhibitions across the country. A breakdown of the numbers issued at individual exhibitions is not available.
Hard copy Website downloads Region Main Summary Main Summary North of England 13,005 48,343 14,382 7,954 South West 5,366 13,876 8,977 8,869 Midlands 35,297 45,696 8,767 10,484 Wales 4,135 5,453 2,872 2,244 South East 50,590 49,399 67,299 73,878 Northern Ireland 4,317 8,982 3,083 2,286 Scotland 5,810 11,642 11,499 17,531 Total 118,520 183,391 116,879 123,246 To date, nationally, over 30,000 completed NOP questionnaires and around 31.000 letters responding to the consultations have been received. Additionally, around 2,000 responses have been received via the dedicated website. Very large numbers of responses are arriving and we do not yet have accurate numbers broken down by region.
As part of the consultation there have been 17 exhibitions which cost approximately £929,000. The cost of producing the seven detailed consultation documents and seven summary documents was £609,000.
31WMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport announced to Parliament on 28 November 2002, Official Report, columns 474–75, the consultation on airports capacity will be kept open until we have consulted on options for new runways in relation to Gatwick. We will publish a further consultation document in the new year.