§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) why he has limited the requirement for the establishment of local consultation committees to 37 of the operational airfields open to the public in the United Kingdom;
(2) what criteria he has adopted for placing a limit on the need for local consultation committees at commercial airfields in the United Kingdom;
(3) whether he will take steps to extend the requirement for local consultation to all United Kingdom licensed airfields; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Michael SpicerI have been reviewing my Department's policy on the designation of aerodromes for consultative purposes under section 35 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982. About 40 aerodromes are already designated, and I have no plans to remove any active aerodromes from this list. I have concluded that in principle we should designate any other airport which meets the criterion for economic regulation in section 37(2) and (3) of the Airports Act 1986 in terms of having an annual turnover of more than £1 million. We should also be prepared to designate additional smaller aerodromes in response to representations made to us in particular cases, where designation is likely to be helpful in alleviating local problems. I have not set any limit to the number of designations.