§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what evidence he has received from the communications and transport deregulation task force to justify its statement on the cost and cost-effectiveness of airport security.
§ Mr. NorrisThe statement to which the hon. Member refers is in his recent report "Deregulating Disaster". He quotes an early draft by the task force which suggested that the Department approaches airport security with an "overly belt and braces approach at huge cost to industry".
In its final report, to be published shortly, the task force recommend that security measures must be commensurable with the level of threat and that the aviation industry should be fully consulted in the measures adopted. We accept this view.