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Mr. John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington): Air traffic control West Drayton is in my constituency. What factors or arguments have been brought into play since a Labour Front Bencher at a Labour party conference stood up and said that we would not "sell the air"? If it isthe spurious argument about introducing commercial management to make the system more effective and competitive in the international market, surely we have learned the lessons from Railtrack about how commercial management can undermine not only a service but safety.
Ms Jackson: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for touching on that issue, as did my hon. Friends the Members for Crawley (Laura Moffatt), for Reading, West (Mr. Salter) and for Ayr (Ms Osborne) because that is the issue that was rightly at the forefront of people's minds.
Our safety standards are some of the most stringent in the world. Our skies are safe despite the fact that air traffic is increasing by about 7 per cent. a year. In the main, that is a tribute to the CAA, which sets and monitors those standards and to NATS, whose ability to move traffic safely and expeditiously is arguably the highest in the world.
NATS is subject to testing safety targets set by the Government and continues to meet those targets, and we are totally committed to maintaining and improving the United Kingdom's safety standards. Indeed, in view of the relentless rise in traffic levels, which is expected to continue in the foreseeable future, actual safety levels must increase. That is the overriding priority of our aviation policy, and I can tell my hon. Friends who have raised concerns about that issue that this Government would not have contemplated institutional change if we had thought that safety might be jeopardised.
NATS's staff and some hon. Members have argued that a private sector NATS would put profits before safety. My hon. Friend the Member for Kemptown made that point forcefully. It is our view that it would not. The safety culture within NATS is very strong at all levels and the Government, the regulator and NATS together would ensure that that remained the case.
One of the benefits of the PPP would be to ensure the separation of safety regulation from the provision of ATC services. That is something that airspace users would welcome and which the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee and the former Monopolies and Mergers Commission have been recommending for some years. It would make a major contribution to NATS's ability to deliver our ATC projects both now and in the future, enabling us to continue to handle safely the increase in flights that we expect. Correctly structured--and it would be--it would give NATS greater access to private capital for investment and the skills to use that capital to best effect.
NATS would be the first to admit that mistakes were made with Swanwick. However, I hope that my hon. Friend the Member for Kemptown will be reassured to know that the centre is now on schedule to enter operation by spring 2002. Technical transfer--the point at which the system development is complete and satisfies its initial requirement--was achieved on time at the end of March. The new system is now being integrated into the rest of the UK ATC infrastructure; that should be complete by late next year. The year 2001 will be taken up with training controllers on the new systems before the centre enters operation.
Prestwick and Swanwick are the pillars of NATS's two-centre strategy. NATS's commitment to the strategy is unwavering, as is that of the Government. I trust that my hon. Friend the Member for Ayr will take comfort from the fact that NATS plans to bring the new Scottish centre into operation in the winter of 2005-06. In April this year, we approved the negotiation of a multi-phase contract for the NSC with Sky Solutions. We expect agreement on phase 1--the detailed design of the building and systems, and some software development--this summer. We are appointing external project management experts to assist NATS.
My hon. Friend the Member for Kemptown touched on the future of national air traffic control, not only on the future of NATS. He is right not to be too parochial; aviation is an international business. European air traffic levels continue to rise, and delays due to ATC causes are affecting the European ATC system at an alarming rate. The Kosovo conflict is part of the problem, even though combat activity has ceased. Capacity seems to be inadequate in some parts of Europe. Happily, the situation in the UK is much better; the UK is currently responsible for only 6 per cent. of the total delays across Europe. That is remarkable considering that traffic is at record levels in some parts of our airspace and well beyond forecast levels.
Nevertheless, the UK is part of a whole, and we suffer knock-on effects from delays elsewhere. We believe that it is in the UK's best interests to seek an overall European solution to ATC delay problems. We think that political initiatives already under way should be strengthened. We are co-operating fully with European states at ministerial, official, technical, and operational level to develop solutions through harmonising and integrating national systems, in order to maximise the available capacity in the short term, and create more capacity in the longer term. The results of co-operation over about 10 years are feeding through to capacity increase, but traffic growth is rapidly outstripping the rate at which demand can be accommodated. We need to explore new and innovative measures.
The introduction of radar after the second world war obviously vastly improved the controller's ability to retain an overall picture of his traffic and to effect safe separation between them. However, the basic principles remain: individual aircraft are separated from each other manually, and aircraft are obliged to fly predetermined routes through the skies.
The European organisation for the safety of air navigation--EUROCONTROL--of which the UK is one of the most active members, has brought together all interested aviation parties, including the military, to develop a strategy for the future of air traffic management. Entitled "ATM 2000+", it looks at the period until 2015 and approaches air traffic control in a new light. Safety will always be paramount, but we can harness new technology. New developments can enhance the dialogue between pilot and controller. They can replace voice transmissions with data transfer, take full advantage of air navigation systems for ATC use, and utilise airborne safety net systems. In the ATC system of the future, the controller will take on a more strategic role, allowing airborne routing and flight profile freedoms, thereby gaining greater overall airspace capacity. Safety levels will be enhanced, and the controller will be able to intervene where necessary to maintain proscribed separation standards.
For the future, we need an ATC system that can respond positively to rising traffic levels, improve safety levels to meet the requirements of increased volumes of traffic, and deliver a cost-effective service at a price the airlines are prepared to pay. That is the background against which we proposed a public-private partnership for NATS. What we want goes beyond financial freedom, important though that is. UK air traffic control must be a safe, effective and efficient part of the global system. We have not yet come to a conclusion on the precise future form of NATS, although we hope to do so shortly. However, the future of air traffic control is no small issue; we must be sure that we have the right answer, and we will.
Question put and agreed to.
13 Jul 1999 : Column 319Adjourned accordingly at five minutes to Two o'clock.
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