NATS (Hansard, 25 February 2002)

§ Mr. Clifton-Brown
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what expenditure the Government have made on the NATS PPP; on what dates; for what purpose; and what further expenditure is planned. [37055]

§ Mr. Jamieson
Since October 1998, the Government have so far incurred costs of £52.2 million in the setting up of the NATS PPP. It is estimated that remaining residual costs amount to £3.5 million.

§ Mr. Clifton-Brown
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what payments have been made to the NATS employee Share Trust Ltd. to date; and when they will be completed. [37056]

§ Mr. Jamieson
The allocation of the first tranche of shares to staff was completed on 21 September 2001. The second allocation, which has been triggered by the successful introduction into service of the Swanwick Centre, will proceed once a further valuation of the shares has been completed and Inland Revenue approval obtained.

§ Mr. Clifton-Brown
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when the Government received the NATS business plan. [37060]

§ Mr. Jamieson
A draft of the NATS business plan was received at the end of last November.

§ Mr. Clifton-Brown
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what representations he has had concerning the NATS price cap since 11 September 2001. [37058]

§ Mr. Jamieson
The price cap for en route air navigation services provided by NATS is a matter for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). I understand that NATS applied to the CAA on 4 February seeking a relaxation of the price cap over the period 2003–05.

§ Mr. Pound
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the consequences for National Air Traffic Services arising from the terrorist acts of 11 September 2001 have been; and if he will make a statement. [38047]

§ Mr. Byers
The terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September led to a downturn in air traffic which has had a serious impact on NATS' revenues. Since that time, NATS' financial position has been regularly discussed by NATS, the Airline Group, the Government as the other main shareholder, the Civil Aviation Authority as regulator and the banks. All these parties are making a contribution to ensuring that NATS has a robust financial structure for the foreseeable future.
The banks and Government are being asked to make a contribution through the provision of short-term financial support, likely to be in the form of commercial loans. The terms of the Airline Group's contribution are being discussed. This needs to be settled before the terms of the loan are finalised.
I will report the outcome of those discussions to the House.
810W
Without the PPP, the Government would have borne the full shareholder and financing risk of the downturn in revenue.