Air Traffic Control Disruption
Debate between Keir Mather and Simon Hoare(1Â week, 4Â days ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Keir Mather
My hon. Friend is right to point out that the issue that caused the initial disruption was fixed as quickly as possible by NATS, but a number of hours then went by, because it needed to ensure that the system was stable when it was rebooted, and that flights could return to the air safely. That is the most important consideration for NATS when it faces disruption of this kind. I can confirm that the congestion we have seen has largely passed through, despite the fact that lots of planes were out of place and needed to be rerouted. It is now up to the Department for Transport, NATS and the CAA to work practically together to ensure that any subsequent congestion is minimised, and that the British public can carry on flying to where they need to go.
Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con)
Against a backdrop of realism—things just go wrong, no matter how much money is invested in them, or how up to date they are—does it not seem slightly ludicrous that NATS has put all its eggs in one basket? There is no shadow, back-up or secondary scheme that can be used. If there was, it might not be as good as the main one, but it would minimise, or certainly attenuate, disruption. Is it in the Minister’s thinking to put the eggs in more baskets, rather than just relying on one particular bit of software?
Keir Mather
The Secretary of State said from the Dispatch Box yesterday that she is of the view that while this disruption was not foreseen, it was not unavoidable, and there are lessons to learn about how we can minimise the chances of this recurring. The hon. Member is right to point to the fact that resilience is clearly not where it needs to be. We need our technological systems to be more adaptive and more reactive. That is exactly why the Secretary of State has said that technological change needs to be at the forefront of the CAA and NATS’ priorities, and agility and the resilience in the system need to be among their top considerations.