§ Lord Underhillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the response of the Earl of Caithness to Amendment No. 9 during the Report stage of the Airports Bill on 10th June 1986 means that the Secretary of State for Transport may use his powers under Section 15(4) of the Act to require the five Merseyside district councils to accept shares in a Liverpool Public Airport Company.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Transport (The Earl of Caithness)Clause 15 empowers the Secretary of State, after consulting the councils concerned, to modify schemes or (if a scheme does not accord with his advice) substitute one of his own. As I told the noble Lord on 10th June, the Government hope that any such action will be unnecessary and that the five district councils will themselves come to an agreed solution on the distribution of shares between all or any of them. Should they fail to do so, however, the Government will have no option but to use its powers in the way that it considers appropriate.