Airports: Heathrow

Debate between Lord Elton and Earl Attlee

Wednesday 23rd January 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I suggest that the noble and learned Baroness writes to BA for an explanation.

[Lord Elton]

My Lords—

[Lord Elton]

My Lords, I think I can keep going. In answer to the noble Baroness, Lady Ramsay, my noble friend said that Charles de Gaulle has four runways, but the comparison she was making was in capacity. We would like to know what percentage of capacity Charles de Gaulle is running at compared with Heathrow.

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I believe that Charles de Gaulle runs at about 75% capacity.

Airports: Capacity

Debate between Lord Elton and Earl Attlee

Tuesday 8th January 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, it is important for businesses to put their own submissions in to the Airports Commission, as I think the noble Lord has already done himself.

[Lord Elton]

My Lords, institutions can scarcely run at 100% capacity, any more than you can have 100% full employment. There has to be some slack in the system. How long does my noble friend think that the 14% capacity that he says is now available will last? What steps are being taken to meet the moment when it is full?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, DfT aviation demand forecasts suggest that with no new runway Gatwick Airport could become full from around 2018 and Stansted from around 2030. That is why we have set up the Airports Commission to advise us on viable options for solving this problem.

Olympic Games 2012: Disruption to Businesses

Debate between Lord Elton and Earl Attlee

Monday 26th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the noble Lord will understand that the provision of the Olympic route network was a key component of our bid to host the Olympics. If we had simply said to the International Olympic Committee, “Oh yes, we will have a great transport system”, we simply would not have secured the bid. We had to tell the International Olympic Committee specifically how we would provide the transport, including the Olympic route network.

[Lord Elton]

My Lords, can my noble friend readdress the question asked by my noble friend Lady Gardner of Parkes? If 50 per cent of the crossing places in, for instance, Oxford Street are to be closed and barriers will make it impossible to cross the road other than in the remaining 50 per cent of places, many people who are not that fit will have to make very long journeys on foot to get across the road, even when it is not rush hour. That, together with fighting against the tide, will put some people out of the commercial race altogether.

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I understand my noble friend’s point but, where restrictions are planned, they will be in place only for as long as necessary.

Transport: Bus Stops

Debate between Lord Elton and Earl Attlee

Monday 22nd November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I am fully aware of the forthcoming difficulties, but we have given local authorities increased flexibility by removing a lot of the ring-fencing on funding streams.

[Lord Elton]

My Lords, surely, parking offences pay for themselves with regard to parking wardens. Can this not be done by parking wardens?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the fines for parking infringements are set to deter illegal parking and to enable local authorities to recover the cost of enforcement.

Government: Ministerial Cars

Debate between Lord Elton and Earl Attlee

Tuesday 5th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, we could use the mayor’s bicycle scheme if we wanted to. I regularly walk to my department. It takes me precisely 10 minutes to get from my desk to the Secretary of State’s desk.

[Lord Elton]

My Lords, will the Minister write to me if he cannot answer my question now? How many cars in government use are fuelled by liquid petroleum gas and what is the saving in using this alternative fuel?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I am not aware of any cars using liquid petroleum gas. However, many of them now use diesel fuel. For instance, some of the Jaguar cars will do 26.5 miles to the gallon and the Toyota Prius Mark III will achieve 72.4 miles per gallon. So far as I am aware, though, we are not using LPG as a fuel.