§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received concerning the effect of the Local Government, Planning and Land (No. 2) Bill on the development of Manchester international airport; what reply he is sending; what action he is taking; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. KingMy right hon. Friend has received representations from the Manchester international airport authority and from some hon. Members. He will reply as soon as possible.
The purpose of part VIII of the Local Government, Planning and Land (No. 2) Bill is to control total local authority capital expenditure, however financed, including expenditure on local authority airports. However, the Government recognise and accept the importance of such airports to their regions. It is proposed therefore, subject to enactment of the legislation, to treat developments at airports as schemes of regional importance under clause 69 of the Bill. This will enable my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade to make appropriate "additional" capital allocations specifically to enable development to take place. Authorities will, of course, be free to transfer capital allocations from other services and make use of certain capital receipts to cover airport development if they wish to do so. The Government are also considering the implications of the amendment made in the House of Lords to clause 68 of the Bill which would permit a local authority to increase their expenditure allocations by the amount of profits of a trading undertaking such as an airport.