HC Deb 30 November 2001 vol 375 cc1155-6W
Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his statement of 20 November, on Terminal 5, if he will set out the terms of reference of the research study to reassess attitudes to aircraft noise. [17792]

Mr. Byers

[holding answer 23 November 2001]: The initial terms of reference are as follows:

Aims and objectives A1. The White Paper, "New Deal for Transport", announced the Government's intention to formulate an aviation policy looking some 30 years ahead and stated the principle that the aviation industry should, in broad terms, meet the external costs it imposes. The Department's consultation on "The Future of Aviation" noted (para 149) that further research into the monetary valuation of the effects of noise may be needed to inform charging strategies. A2. The Study is to reassess attitudes to aircraft noise in England; their correlation with the Leq noise index; and to examine (hypothetical) willingness to pay in respect of nuisance from such noise, in relation to other elements, on the basis of stated preference (SP) survey evidence.

Issues and scope A3. The Study shall be of sufficient scale and scope to provide a methodologically robust re-assessment of the validity of the Leq family of noise indices as a proxy for relative community

Proportion of local authority and registered social landlord lettings made available to new tenants who were homeless households in priority need; and number of homeless households in temporary accommodation arranged by the local authority at 31 March: by region
1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
North East
LA lettings (percentage) 27 24 20 18 16 13 9 13 11
RSL lettings (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 15 12 6 6 5
Numbers accommodated1 400 500 500 500 500 500 700 1,000 1,100
North West
LA lettings (percentage) 25 25 24 21 19 16 11 10 10
RSL lettings (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 16 13 8 7 6
Numbers accommodated1 2,700 3,100 2,800 2,300 2,200 2,100 2,400 2,200 2,000
Yorkshire and the Humber
LA lettings (percentage) 29 32 29 23 19 15 16 16 13
RSL lettings (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 21 17 10 8 8
Numbers accommodated1 2,300 2,200 1,900 1,600 1,400 1,000 1,200 2,200 1400
East Midlands
LA lettings (percentage) 41 40 32 28 26 20 13 14 16
RSL lettings (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 25 21 14 12 10
Numbers accommodated1 1,900 1,600 1,400 1,600 1.500 1,400 1,300 1,600 2,000
West Midlands
LA lettings (percentage) 41 42 36 31 30 27 29 26 22
RSL lettings (percentage) n/a n/a n/a n/a 26 21 16 14 14
Numbers accommodated1 1,900 1,700 1,500 1,200 1,200 1,100 2,000 1,500 1,800

annoyance; and in particular the relative weightings on average event noise level and number of events.

This project was announced by my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, North-East (Mr. Ainsworth) in May and is not directly connected with the planning decision on Heathrow Terminal 5. The project consists of two phases and is expected to last approximately three years. The contract has recently been awarded to a consortium led by The MVA Consultancy.

I will also ensure that all available research into sleep disturbance and attitudes to aircraft noise by day and by night will be taken into account in the consultation about the bight noise regime at the designated London airports to be undertaken by 2003.