§ The Minister for Transport (Mr. John Spellar)In order to update the longstanding land use planning arrangements for safeguarding aerodromes, technical sites and military explosives storage areas the existing Circular and Direction to local planning authorities have been revised. This follows the announcement on 27 July 2000,Official Report, columns 775–776W, by my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin) that we would be consulting local government and others concerned about the revision of the consultation process which local planning authorities are required to carry out on development proposals which may have consequences for the safe operation of certain aerodromes and navigation facilities. A public consultation took place during 2001 and discussions with local planning authority and airport representatives continued into last year. We are grateful for their assistance in refining our proposals.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Department for Transport and the National Assembly for Wales are today publishing the revised version of the
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Table 1 Deaths to UK gulf veterans (Note: 1) 1 April 1991–31 December 2002 Causes (coded to ICD-9)(Note: 2) ICD Chapter Cause of death Gulf Era3 Mortality Rate Ratio4 All deaths 571 574 0.99 All cause coded deaths 563 566 0.99 I–XVI Disease-related causes 225 276 0.81 I Infectious and parasitic diseases 4 2 1.99 II Cancers 97 109 0.89 III Endocrine and immune disorders 1 4 0.25 V Mental disorders 12 15 0.80 VI Diseases of the nervous system and sense organs (Note 5) 10 9 1.11 VII Diseases of the circulatory system 75 102 0.73 VIII Diseases of the respiratory system 10 6 1.66 IX Diseases of the digestive system 14 18 0.77 IV, X–XVI All other disease-related causes (Note 6) 2 11 0.18 EXVII External causes of injury and poisoning 338 290 1.16 Railway accidents 4 1 3.98 Motor vehicle accidents 118 97 1.21 Water transport accidents 5 1 4.97 Air and space accidents 25 19 1.31 Other vehicle accidents 0 1 0.00 Accidental poisoning 12 14 0.85 Accidental falls 8 7 1.14 Accidents due to fire/flames 0 2 0.00 Accidents due to natural environmental factors 2 2 1 Accidents to submersion/suffocation/foreign bodies 17 7 2.42 Other accidents 31 29 1.06 Late effects of accident/injury 0 2 0.00 Suicide and injury undetermined whether accidental 107 100 1.07 Safeguarding Circular, for application in England and Wales. It incorporates a revised Direction to local planning authorities made by my right hon. Friend the First Secretary of State and the Welsh Minister for the Environment. The main change which the Direction makes is that where consultation is required the local planning authority must consult the aerodrome operator rather than the Civil Aviation Authority, with the Authority becoming involved only if the local planning authority does not wish to follow the aerodrome operator's advice. In addition, the Circular describes more fully than previously the importance of safeguarding and the hazards to aviation which can arise from particular types of development. The Direction comes into force on 10 February and the new Circular will replace DOE Circular 2/92 (Welsh Office Circular 5/92) on the same day.