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Aircraft Noise
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions which civilian airports in the UK service large aircraft with more than four flights in an hour. [34631]
Mr. Jamieson: There is no standard definition of a large aircraft. Four flights an hour corresponds approximately to 25,000 flights annually. The latest available figures are for the year to end October 2001. Those UK airports at which there were more than 25,000 flights 1 in this period are as follows:
- 1 Includes all civilian scheduled and charter air transport movements (except air taxis) by UK and foreign airlines. Flights such as positioning, training, private, corporate and military are excluded.
- Aberdeen
- Belfast City
- Belfast International
- Birmingham
- Bristol
- East Midlands
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- Edinburgh
- Gatwick
- Glasgow
- Heathrow
- Leeds/Bradford
- Liverpool
- London City
- Luton
- Manchester
- Newcastle
- Southampton
- Stansted.
Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many complaints about aircraft noise his Department received in (a) 2001 and (b) each of the previous four years, broken down by airport or geographical area. [35186]
Mr. Jamieson: Information is not held comprehensively in the form requested and to collect it exactly as specified would entail disproportionate cost. Letters from the public (and telephone calls when a written response was provided) about aircraft noise matters generally, excluding responses to consultations and co-ordinated campaigns, were received in each year as follows:
| Airport | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 146 | 188 | 159 | 100 | 221 |
| Gatwick | 16 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 11 |
| Stansted | 87 | 102 | 70 | 243 | 53 |
| Birmingham | 10 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| Bournemouth | 6 | 21 | 6 | 8 | 3 |
| Bristol Lulsgate | 1 | — | — | 1 | 7 |
| East Midlands | — | 1 | 2 | 27 | 19 |
| Edinburgh | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Glasgow | 1 | — | — | — | — |
| Liverpool | 3 | 4 | — | — | 5 |
| London City | 1 | 6 | — | — | 3 |
| Luton | 5 | 16 | 32 | 16 | 4 |
| Manchester | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Manston | — | 1 | 51 | 7 | 3 |
| Oxford | 5 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 5 |
| Plymouth | — | 2 | — | — | 1 |
| Others | 271 | 182 | 104 | 107 | 89 |
Most of these letters, e-mails and telephone calls were about specific aspects of Government policy, the airport's noise controls, or both. Many complaints about noise matters are, however, dealt with by each individual airport. Some airports regularly publish their own summary statistics of complaints or inquiries.
Travellers
Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what guidance he gives on the welfare considerations to be considered in the application for and enforcement of a possession order by a local authority to evict travellers from unauthorised occupation of public parks and open spaces. [34898]
Ms Keeble: Guidance is included in the Good Practice Guide on Managing Unauthorised Camping published in 1998. A copy of the Guidance is available in the Library of the House.
As the hon. Member will know, my Department in conjunction with the Home Office are currently revising the
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1998 Guidance. I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 8 February 2002, Official Report, column 1188W.
Ministerial Meetings
Mr. Borrow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what meetings Ministers of his Department have had with members or officials of South Ribble borough council since June 2001. [35012]
Dr. Whitehead: I met members and officials from South Ribble borough council on 26 June 2001. Since then, there have been no meetings between DTLR Ministers and officials and members from South Ribble borough council.
Global Crossing
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) what function has been played within the railway industry by Global Crossing; [34939]
- (2) what discussions he has had with (a) Ernst and Young, (b) the Strategic Rail Authority and (c) the HSE on the potential impact on the railway industry of the collapse of Global Crossing; [34943]
(3) what effect the collapse of Global Crossing (a) has had and (b) is likely to have upon the rail network; and what steps his Department (i) has taken and (ii) will be taking in response to its collapse; [34942]
(4) what discussions (a) his Department and (b) the Strategic Rail Authority have had since 1997 with (i) Railtrack and (ii) the Rail Administrators regarding the work of (A) Racal Telecom and (B) Global Crossing within the railway industry; [34947]
(5) what steps the (a) SRA, (b) HSE and (c) Railway Administrators (i) have taken and (ii) will be taking in response to the collapse of Global Crossing. [34941]
Mr. Jamieson: Global Crossing supplies telecom and associated services to the UK rail industry. I understand that the company have assured their European customers that service provision will be unaffected while it seeks to re-structure its finances in the United States.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) on what dates discussions took place between the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry between May 1997 and December 1999 regarding the sale of Racal Telecom to Global Crossing; [35000]
- (2) what representations he has received from (a) Railtrack, (b) the (Shadow) Strategic Rail Authority, (c) the Health and Safety Executive, (d) Racal Telecom, (e) Global Crossing, (f) the Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions and (g) the Competition Commission between May 1997 and December 1999 regarding the sale of Racal Telecom to Global Crossing; [34970]
(3) on what dates discussions took place between the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions between May 1997 and December 1999 regarding the sale of Racal Telecom to Global Crossing; [34972]
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(4) on what dates discussions took place between the Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions and his Department and (a) Railtrack, (b) the (Shadow) Strategic Rail Authority, (c) the Health and Safety Executive, (d) Racal Telecom, (e) Global Crossing and (f) the Competition Commission between May 1997 and December 1999 regarding the sale of Racal Telecom to Global Crossing; [34971]
(5) on what dates discussions took place between the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions and his Department and (a) Railtrack, (b) the (Shadow) Strategic Rail Authority, (c) the Health and Safety Executive, (d) Racal Telecom and (e) Global Crossing between May 1997 and December 1999 regarding the sale of Racal Telecom to Global Crossing; [35002]
(6) what representations were received from (a) Railtrack, (b) the (Shadow) Strategic Rail Authority, (c) the Health and Safety Executive, (d) Racal Telecom, (e) Global Crossing and (f) the Department of Trade and Industry between May 1997 and December 1999 regarding the sale of Racal Telecom to Global Crossing; [35001]
(7) what assessment was made by his Department of the impact of the sale of Racal Telecom to Global Crossing in November 1999 on its delivery of functions related to the railway, with specific reference to (a) economic aspects and (b) safety critical functions. [34937]
Mr. Jamieson: The sale of Racal Telecom to Global Crossing was a commercial matter for the two private companies concerned, not my Department.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) if he will outline the safety critical functions within the railway industry for which Global Crossing has had responsibility; [34969]
- (2) what (a) safety warnings, (b) enforcement notices and (c) prosecutions have been placed upon Global Crossing (formerly Racal Telecom) by the Health and Safety Executive regarding safety offences related to the railways between (i) May 1997 and October 1999 and (ii) November 1999 and January 2002; [34946]
(3) what timetable for safety work on the railways has been agreed between Racal Telecom and (a) Railtrack, (b) the HSE and (c) his Department since December 1995; [34945]
(4) if he will list the requirements contained in the contract Global Crossing has had with Railtrack with regard to (a) its safety function, (b) a timetable for the improvement of safety critical functions and (c) other functions related to the running of the railway network; [34968]
(5) what the timetable is for the implementation of safety critical improvements agreed by Racal Telecom since December 1995; and what progress has been made towards these targets. [34940]
Mr. Jamieson: Racal Telecom (now Global Crossing) have a contractual arrangement with Railtrack, which is a commercial matter between the companies. There are no agreements between Racal Telecom/Global Crossing and either the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or my Department. Global Crossing supplies telecom and
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associated services to the British rail industry. Railtrack as infrastructure manager retains overall responsibility for safety. HSE advise that there have been no prosecutions against Racal Telecom or Global Crossing since 1 April 1999, or enforcement notices since 1 April 2001. HSE data from before this date are not available without incurring disproportionate cost.
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