Letter from Paul Clark MP, Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State, Department for Transport, to the Chairman
of the Committee
Thank you for your letter of 25 February seeking
further information on the work the Department for Transport (DfT)
undertakes to improve aviation security overseas.
The Countering Terrorism and Radicalisation
(CTR) Fund used by the DfT in delivering overseas capacity building
is part of the Countering Terrorism and Radicalisation Programme
(CTRP). This programme is run by the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office and is one of the FCO's Strategic Programme Funds. The
CTRP supports capacity building work across the four strands of
CONTEST and operates in North and East Africa, the Middle East
and South and South East Asia. The size of the fund in the last
three years has been:
FY 2009-10—£36.9 million
FY 2008-09—£35 million
FY 2007-08—£16 million
Before 2007-08 the programme did not exist in
its current form, but was made up of two separate Programmes.
In FY 2010-11, the CTRP is expected to increase to £38 million.
Since 2007 the DfT has hosted 23 inward visits
(not all are funded by CTR, some states have funded their own
visits), delivered:
— 60 test pieces for X-ray equipment and
Walk Through Metal Detectors (WTMD).
— 14 Explosive Trace Detections (ETD) Machines.
— 42 aviation security courses overseas
(with 18 planned for 2010-11).
— Four regional aviation security workshops.
— Some 5,900 X-ray trays.
ICAO member Governments will meet later this
month under the auspices of its Aviation Security Panel. This
is the competent ICAO committee that develops and agrees ICAO
security policy and responses to emerging threats, as well as
strategies aimed at preventing future acts of unlawful interference.
The panel next meets at the end of March 2010, where, inter alia,
it will consider approving amendments to Annex 17 of the Chicago
Convention. This is the annex that establishes the international
framework that governs ICAO Member States' obligations on the
security of aircraft arriving or departing their territory. Once
the amendments to Annex 17 have been adopted ICAO Member States
will need to give effect to the new rules.
The DfT also participates and frequently leads
or chairs discussion in a number of European Civil Aviation Conference
(ECAC) and ICAO technical meetings held throughout the year, for
example, developing testing methodologies for new types of security
equipment. The meetings include ECAC's Technical Task Force, Liquid
Explosives Study Group and also the group that developed the draft
testing methodology for body-worn-threat detection systems.
The European Commission has not introduced EU-wide
measures in response to the Detroit incident. EU Member States
will determine what more stringent measures, if any, will apply
within their respective territory. The UK has been calling for
the Commission to review the standards applicable across Europe
and that work is ongoing. The UK, for example, increased the ratio
of physical search at search combs and we are phasing in Advanced
Imaging Technology—the consultation on "the acceptable
use of AIT in the aviation security environment" should be
published within the next 28 days.
1 March 2010
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