High Speed Rail

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Monday 28th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I am willing to listen to any representations, but a line has to be drawn somewhere on such developments. I think that Coventry will be served by the large station at the Birmingham International exchange before the line goes into Birmingham Curzon Street. It is up to Coventry to work with the Department to work out the best possible routes to link in with the line so that people in Coventry have the advantage of HS2.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

I warmly welcome the announcement and especially the fact that the route will miss my constituency off to the east. Will the Secretary of State confirm that there will be good links not only to Nottingham and Derby, but to smaller local stations, such as the three in my constituency?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour. As I have said, capacity is one of the key reasons for building the new route. It will be the first railway line to be built north of London in 120 years. We need extra capacity. By freeing up capacity, the line will enable there to be better services elsewhere.

West Coast Rail Franchise

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Thursday 6th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

That is a valid question, but of course, as I have said, this is a franchise exercise that went wrong. High Speed 2 is a capital project that I think will benefit the United Kingdom and our long-term capacity. No railway line has been built north of London for over 100 years, so it is about time we increased capacity.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

The Secretary of State said that there were no implications from the Laidlaw report for any other procurement in his Department, but the interim findings clearly set out that there were concerns about the Department’s management structure and the quality assurance process. Is he still confident that there is no need to review the Thameslink rolling stock contract to ensure that no mistake was made in it as well?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I can assure my hon. Friend that I have of course looked at that situation. I believe that the contract that was announced some time ago will be coming to a conclusion in the near future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Thursday 18th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State confirm what the cost would have been of proceeding with a flawed tendering process and awarding that contract? On the same basis, will he also reconsider the Thameslink rolling stock contract, to make sure that there has been no mistake with that either?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I assure my hon. Friend that I asked those questions rigorously in the Department and I have been assured that this was a wholly different process. As I have said, I am awaiting the outcome of the two inquiries that I have set up.

Aviation

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Wednesday 4th July 2012 Westminster Hall

[Mark Reckless]

That is certainly the position in the short-term. I am keen to see better surface travel into Gatwick. The deterioration in the train service there is most unfortunate. Investment is strongly in the national interest.

The British Chambers of Commerce initially proposed a “Heathwick” arrangement. There are some issues with the economics of it, but the existing system is the reason why it could be attractive. If we allowed Gatwick to invest £5 billion in a super-fast railway to Heathrow—by the way, BA, it would take 15 minutes airside, rather than an hour to connect them—it would be regulated capital and would lead to higher slot prices at Gatwick, which is a good thing anyway. Our problem with aviation in this country has been that we have held down the cost of landing fees at Heathrow and Gatwick, which means that they are operating at near capacity with all the problems mentioned. If we allowed landing fees to rise and entirely deregulated Gatwick and Heathrow, there would be a big transfer of economic value from the airlines to BAA.

Another way to do it would be differential APD, particularly on short-haul flights at Heathrow. Because we could get the cost back from higher landing charges at Gatwick, Heathwick, although not ideal, might make sense within the existing system; it would press out some of the leisure point-to-point flights from Gatwick and allow intercontinental flights to come there.

From Heathrow’s promoters, we hear that it is a great hub, that we need just one hub and that Paris Charles de Gaulle has more destinations than us, but those destinations are in French west Africa—Mali, Bangoui and Ouagadougou. I do not think that there is any suggestion that that should happen from Heathrow. Most demand is leisure, not business. Heathrow still flies more people and planes than other airports, even those with four or six runways.

We do not necessarily need a hub that is ideal for those who happen to operate that hub. There is a suggestion that a dual-hub is not ideal. That is true, but it is an awful lot better than no expansion and forcing more and more people to use European airports. According to the constrained Department for Transport forecast, which I find questionable in a number of ways, if we do not allow expansion in the south-east, 25 million rather than 4 million people will fly from Belfast by 2050 and 12 million people rather than 700,000 will fly from Exeter by 2030.

I question the plausibility of those forecasts, but if we deregulate air travel and allow a second runway at Gatwick in due course, after the agreement runs out in 2019—I agree with the hon. Member for Cambridge (Dr Huppert) that it should not be immediately—it will make it more attractive for the airline to expand in the airport. At some point, the Liberal Democrats may think that we will need at least one runway in the south-east. The strongest demand from the vested interests is for that to be at Heathrow, but there is a strong argument for the country as a whole for it to be at Gatwick. It would benefit from being there because we would then have competing hubs, with potentially another airline alliance based at Gatwick. It would drive down prices, serve more destinations and operate for the benefit of UK consumers as a whole, rather than just those who happen to have the strongest vested interests and shout loudest in current consultations.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. If I may intrude on the London and south-east grief with a question about the midlands, what are his views on encouraging passengers from the midlands and further north not to go to Gatwick or Heathrow for their leisure flights, but to use the airport they are driving past? Does he support the idea of a congestion charge around London to make regional airports more competitive?

[Mark Reckless]

Higher APD on short-haul flights from Gatwick and particularly Heathrow could allow airports beyond the south-east to compete for marginal business that might make more sense at those airports, particularly the leisure flights of people based in the midlands and the north who are flying point to point. Similarly, if we deregulated our international air agreements, there would be a better chance that intercontinental networks would base themselves at Birmingham airport, for example, which now has a longer runway.

--- Later in debate ---

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dobbin. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Rochester and Strood (Mark Reckless) on securing the debate. We have, I think, focused a little too much on the impact in the south-east and have not looked at the full national interest, although my hon. Friend tried to do so. I want to talk about the impact of aviation policy on the midlands.

One thing that pushes flight numbers in the south-east up to near capacity is passengers from the midlands needlessly driving down to use its airports—Gatwick in particular—to go on holiday, when there are perfectly sensible flights, probably to the same places, from midlands airports, which, in many cases, people drive straight past. Trying to find ways not of forcing but of encouraging such passengers to use the midlands airports rather than the London ones has to be a way of solving the problem. I agree with the hon. Member for Blackley and Broughton (Graham Stringer) that it is strange for a Conservative to want to regulate and to force people to do something, so I suggest that we do exactly the opposite. The problem is that once we start regulating an industry and a market, we end up with a problem and decide that the solution is to regulate a bit more or a bit differently, or to bolt something on, to try to force a change in the behaviour that the regulation created in the first place. I suspect that the answer in this case is to deregulate much more of the industry.

I am not at all convinced of the logic of forcing BAA to sell Gatwick, and now Stansted, only to end up still economically regulating both airports. Surely we only regulate a dominant player in the market, and it is hard to see how in one market there can be three. I would free everything up and let Gatwick and Stansted compete with Heathrow, to see what they could do. That would get us a much better short-term fix than any of the other options.

In the midlands, what can we do to encourage people to use the regional airports? An interesting report was produced by Birmingham airport, and we have all seen the adverts on the tube about not putting all our eggs in Heathrow’s basket. If we are talking about fast rail links between airports and London, we have a plan for that; it is called high-speed rail to Birmingham, and it will reduce the journey time from Birmingham airport to London to just over 40 minutes, which is not far off the aspiration that my hon. Friend the Member for Poole (Mr Syms) mentioned for Stansted. I have driven to Stansted airport a few times, and it is an awful place to get to—a terrible location. I cannot see any real attraction in it. No offence to the hon. Member for Cambridge (Dr Huppert), but it is not a solution for a national airport for the UK. Such a solution would be a complete disaster. If we want fast rail links into London, let us have high-speed rail, and then Birmingham airport can become London Birmingham airport, or some other such preposterous name.

More seriously, if we are trying to balance the economy away from the south-east, and out to the midlands and the north, aviation can play a role in encouraging airports in those areas to get more flights, including flights to the new emerging markets. The midlands is the centre of the UK’s manufacturing industry, so it would be good to have links between those local businesses and the major areas they serve. My constituency, for example, has about 550 employees at Rolls-Royce, who fly all over the world. If we are a Government looking at regional benefit rates and regional pay, why can we not consider regional air passenger duty? We have done it for Northern Ireland, so why not do it elsewhere and try to give the areas concerned a chance to build up their competitive airports, increase capacity, attract new routes, and generally grow the market outside London?

I do not pretend that the majority of people will not want to fly to London, and that that is not where the economic powerhouse will be, but we ought to consider the scope and capability that exists outside London as well, rather than just forcing people into the capital’s airports, which happen to be relatively cheap to fly to because they already have full capacity, in which they are protected, and because regulation keeps the prices down.

Finally, if we want our national hub to be truly national, we must ensure that regional airports to which the rail journey is too long have access to the hub. Otherwise, airlines will discontinue their routes to Belfast and Scotland, for example, because they can make more profit from routes to New York, and the hub will become purely a London and south-east one. That is not an attractive way of growing the economy all around the country.

[Jim Dobbin (in the Chair)]

We have hit the deadline of 20 minutes to 11. I call the shadow Minister.

Civil Aviation Bill

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Wednesday 25th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for reminding us of the long debate that we had in Committee. Does he agree that recent news stories about delays at Heathrow have only strengthened the argument that it would be in the airports’ interest to publish those data, so that passengers know whose fault the delays are?

[Jim Fitzpatrick]

I could not agree more. I will discuss previous experience, but, as the hon. Gentleman says, recent experience underscores the expectation that the Government, the authorities or the airports will have to deal with the experience of passenger delays. The horror stories that are starting to come out about passengers experiencing delays of some hours because of shortages of immigration staff and the article in The Daily Telegraph on Monday or Tuesday of this week in which the previous chief executive of UKBA offered some analysis of the problem underscore the fact that there is an important matter to be addressed.

Amendment 9 is the generic proposal. It states:

“A licence must include provisions requiring the holder of a licence to develop passenger welfare plans.”

That is an all-encompassing proposal that we think would cover all the matters that passengers would expect airports and airlines to deal with, including stranded passengers, resilience, delays and all manner of difficulties that passengers might experience. Amendment 10 looks specifically at the position of stranded passengers and suggests that something should be done for them.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jim Fitzpatrick]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that point. Amendment 9 states that it should be incumbent on the licence holder to “develop passenger welfare plans”. That does not necessarily mean that the licence holder has to be totally responsible for delivery. There should be engagement with the airlines and a collective approach to that matter. Obviously, the CAA and the Government should be involved in that. I was not narrowing down the responsibility in the way that I misled my hon. Friend to believe.

Passenger welfare plans were a recommendation of the Select Committee on Transport in its pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill. In Committee, the Minister did not give a good reason why she does not believe that those plans should be included in the licences for airports. She said that the CAA will draw up the licences and that it will be a matter for that organisation. We do not think that that provision is strong enough. Given that the primary duty of the Bill is to the passenger, as we have discussed for some months, we believe that the development of passenger welfare plans would reinforce the focus on giving passengers the best experience possible at our airports. They have clearly not had that in previous winters.

The Transport Committee also stated in its pre-legislative scrutiny:

“Where possible, airport licences should be structured so that they address key areas of passenger dissatisfaction.”

I do not need to repeat the statistics on the misery that has been experienced by passengers at difficult times over a number of years. The reports, particularly the Begg report, on what happened to passengers at Heathrow during the disruption of December 2010 make alarming reading, even if one looks only at the headlines. Nine and a half thousand people were sleeping in the terminal, passengers were seeking refuge in subways, a lorry carrying blankets for passengers had to turn back on the M25 because of traffic conditions and very few passengers were provided with water or refreshments. It was absolute chaos and confusion. I am not blaming anybody for that. It is matter of record and fact, and we all want to avoid it happening again.

I anticipate that the Minister will refer us to clause 83 on the collection of information and data, which we discussed extensively in Committee. We accept that clause 83 is drawn widely enough to include the proposals in new clause 2 and amendments 8 and 10, because the airports could be responsible for providing the relevant data. However, given the experience of recent years, we believe that amendment 9 should be a basic licence requirement. The fact that the CAA has suggested that such a requirement could be incorporated and has included it in the example for the Heathrow licence suggests that it thinks that it will do that anyway. We think that the Government should make it a duty on the CAA to make passenger welfare plans a licence requirement.

[Nigel Mills]

Presumably, the hon. Gentleman accepts that clause 83 will apply to all airports and not just to the three that are likely to have a competition licence. Amendment 9 would not be of any use to a load of passengers who do not use Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted.

[Jim Fitzpatrick]

I accept that point. I suggested in Committee that there should be a delineation of the differences between licensed airports, given that all airports have a licence of some description. Given that the most difficult passenger experiences of recent years have been at Heathrow, given that an indicative licence has been published for Heathrow and given that Heathrow is the market leader and our only hub airport, whatever Heathrow does will be examined by everybody else. If the CAA says that it expects Heathrow to do something, that might be adopted by other airports. We therefore do not think that it would be inappropriate to include this requirement in the licence, even if it applies only to Heathrow, because it would be copied as best practice by the other first-class airports around the country.

We all want to ensure that there is a good passenger experience, especially for those with disabilities, as was discussed in Committee and as is outlined in new clause 2. We hope that the situation will be better as a result of the Bill and are confident that it will be. We congratulate the Government on bringing it forward. However, we think that it would be much better if, in addition to more and clearer data being published on the passenger experience, there was a simple licence requirement, as outlined in amendment 9. We will seek the view of the House on that if the Minister is not able to reassure us in the course of the debate.

--- Later in debate ---

That reminds me of the holiday package scheme. That is also part of the experience. People have told me that when they booked their holiday they felt it looked like a horse and smelt like a horse—if I may use that terminology—but that it turned out to be donkey. That might not be the best illustration in the world for air travel, but it explains, I hope, exactly where the issues lie. I am therefore seeking assurances from the Minister on traveller welfare and the necessary passenger commitment to ensure that travelling through airports is an experience people can enjoy as part of their holiday. I always think, when I go on holiday—I go once a year for two weeks—that my holiday starts when I leave the house, and it is the same for many others. The experience at the airport is part of the holiday, which is why we need some assurances.

[Nigel Mills]

I had not planned to speak to the new clause and amendments, but I was tempted by the exchange on border services to relive some of our Committee debates.

I cannot support the shadow Minister’s amendments. I am not convinced that the licence dealing with the economic regulation of airports is the right place to impose conditions that ought to apply to every airport. I would hope that all airports operating in the UK would recognise that all these extremely sensible and worthy things were natural obligations that they ought to fulfil anyway, and that we should not need to legislate for them. If we do, though, we should legislate for them all, not just the one, two or three airports that happen to be economically regulated.

Clause 18, to which the amendments relate, allows—possibly even instructs—the Civil Aviation Authority to include conditions it thinks

“necessary or expedient having regard to the risk that the holder of the licence may engage in conduct that amounts to an abuse of…market power”.

If it was felt that an airport such as Heathrow was giving a particularly poor passenger welfare service because it could away get with it—because it has market power and people have to fly from there on certain routes—it would be perfectly fair for the CAA, recognising that risk, to impose conditions. We would all want the CAA to do that, if it saw those risks to any part of the passenger experience.

I want to touch on the experience of getting through passport control. Having been through four UK airports this week on Northern Ireland Select Committee duties, I was obviously spared having to go through passport control both in Northern Ireland and at Gatwick on Monday evening, so I have no recent miserable experiences to recount. However, this issue is becoming a reputational risk with people arriving in the UK on holiday or business, so we need to get it right. There is no particular magic to getting it right. The airports and the UK Border Force all have a role to play. As was said, it is a matter of getting resourcing to match the volume of passengers and flights, knowing when passengers are coming from jurisdictions that could make border control more complicated, and making available all the facilities that the Border Force needs, such as rooms near the passport checking station and so on. Airports could invest in electronic scanning devices as well. We need to encourage airports and the UKBF to work together pragmatically to make the service the best it can be.

The Minister asked why no amendments were tabled on this for Report stage. I moved one in Committee, of course, and I was tempted to bring it back on Report to get the wider view of the House, but I was not sure that the Whips would welcome my being tempted down that line. Nevertheless, we need to find a way of getting the UKBF to recognise its responsibility and to publish all the data on the length of queues by airport so that passengers and airports can know what the situation is likely to be. When the transparent data are made available, all involved will have the motivation to get those queues as short as possible by making the most effective use of the resources available.

[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

It is interesting to follow the hon. Member for Amber Valley (Nigel Mills). He said that he could not support the Opposition’s amendments because airports should be doing these things anyway. If they were, we would not need the amendments, but because they are not, the amendments are important. That is particularly so for UK plc, given that, so often, the first and last impressions that overseas visitors get of the UK is of the airport.

[Nigel Mills]

For clarification, my point was that all airports should be doing this but that the amendments would apply the measure to only three UK airports.

[Julie Hilling]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his clarification. I absolutely agree that all airports should be doing it, but the Bill enables us at least to put the obligation on some; we would then hope that the others would follow. If airports want to attract business from passengers and other businesses, their standards need to be as high as those of the others. It is important, therefore, that we set down what we expect from our airports and airlines.

As we heard, the Transport Select Committee undertook the inquiry “Keeping the UK moving: The impact on transport of the winter weather in December 2010”—a very long title. That in-depth report looked into all elements of transport—not only aviation but the road network and how transport links together—and recommended that passenger welfare should be at the heart of airport operations. It also agreed with the recommendation of the Begg report that Heathrow and other airports should develop welfare plans for passengers during disruption. The report stated:

“Passenger welfare should be at the heart of airport operations. We concur with the recommendation of the Begg report that Heathrow should develop a welfare plan for passengers during periods of disruption: other airports should do the same. It is unacceptable that such plans do not already exist. If airlines fail to meet their obligations to accommodate stranded passengers, airports should be prepared to step into the breach. We would support measures by which airport operators could reclaim the costs of providing support to stranded passengers from airlines which had not discharged their legal responsibilities and we recommend that the CAA investigate how this can be achieved.”

The Government responded:

“However, the legal responsibility to provide care and assistance to passengers remains that of airlines. It is important that any initiatives to bolster the provision of passenger welfare during periods of disruption, for instance through passenger welfare plans, do not create any uncertainty in this area.”

The Committee welcomed the Bill, about which the Government response said:

“The CAA would have a new primary duty that would put the interests of passengers unambiguously at the heart of the regulatory regime.”

It is disappointing, then, that on Report we are still urging the Government to put in the Bill the obligation for airports to develop welfare plans.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mrs Villiers]

As I believe I said, the previous Secretary of State had already indicated to the CAA that resilience and passenger welfare were issues that should be addressed in the licence.

[Nigel Mills]

Something that is missing from the indicative licence is a requirement to measure or try to improve people’s experience at border control, although that is understandable, given that it is not within the remit of the CAA to deal with that. Has the Minister had any discussions with the Home Office, given the recent problems at Heathrow and elsewhere, to see whether more data can be published to try to improve that experience?

[Mrs Villiers]

I am very much aware of my hon. Friend’s interest in the UK Border Force, and I shall come on to those matters. However, on various occasions, I have had discussions with Home Office colleagues on those matters.

--- Later in debate ---

[John Woodcock]

My hon. Friend has a lot of experience in this matter. One issue that the Government have not yet set out—and if they do not accept the new clause, they might not be required to do so before the House—is how the changes they seek to implement will not lead to increased fragmentation and a potentially less effective system as well as a more burdensome one for passengers.

[Nigel Mills]

But would the hon. Gentleman not accept that having every airport doing exactly the same thing all the time might be quite risky and that we might be better off having airports doing things a little differently, using different processes and techniques, which would make it harder for people trying to break the system to know exactly what they will be subjected to?

[John Woodcock]

As I have said, we have not set our face against the idea of a risk-based approach, but the Government have not yet done enough to set out how it would work in practice or how it would fit in with a potentially conflicting or contradictory approach from Europe. Ministers are not saying that they want to move to this approach now; they say they want the freedom to do so at some point in the future. At this stage, we do not know what the regime emanating from Europe will be. If the Government seek to press ahead with such a move, it is right to debate and scrutinise it at the time it comes into force when we should know what the European regime is likely to be. That is better than its going forward without scrutiny, which has been the position up to now. I hope that the Minister will seek to change what has been her preferred option.

Those who seek to disrupt, maim and kill users of air transport and innocent people on the ground are constantly testing the defences that the country has put up. That is why we need Ministers to explain to this House the basis for their confidence in individual airports’ ability to assess and counteract risks adequately. In moving away from the current one-size-fits-all approach to security, we cannot permit there to develop a soft underbelly of smaller airports, where defences are lowered because they self-assess their risk to be low. Those intent on doing us harm will always look for opportunities. We currently see that on our television screens daily in the testimony from Oslo. We know from bitter experience that Britain is a nation with a heightened risk of terrorist attack. There can be no grounds for complacency, and I know the Minister agrees.

We also need real consideration of the ability of a risk-based system to implement the necessary response to specific and sudden threats, such as the example of the liquid bomb plot in the summer of 2006. The discovery of this credible threat led Ministers to take the decision to ban liquids, and for a while most hand luggage, from flights to and from the UK. There is no suggestion that Ministers would lose the ability to take such steps in an emergency if they considered that to be necessary, but questions do arise about whether the ability of airports to carry out such emergency procedures might be hindered by their abandonment of uniform security provision. If each of more than 60 airports in the UK operates its own security regime, how straightforward will it be to ensure that emergency measures are adopted with uniformity, rigour and speed should circumstances render that appropriate?

Major changes in aviation security policy cannot be undertaken lightly. I know that the Minister will cite the broad support of airlines and airports for the proposed shift, but it would be wrong if this were Parliament’s only opportunity to debate such a major change in the context of an Opposition amendment, and to seek ministerial assurances.

The Minister will, I am sure, agree that cost and the principle of lessening regulation are not in themselves sufficient justifications for a root-and-branch reform of aviation security. The public rightly expect their elected representatives to maintain their security and safety in the skies. Ministers are proposing not a mere technical change, but a major overhaul. New clause 3 would require them to explain their proposals to both Houses, and to secure approval for a change when they wish to make it. I urge Members to support this extra safeguard.

I want to say a little about amendment 11. The subject of ensuring the dignity of passengers with specific religious clothing requirements was touched on in Committee, and I am pleased that we have an opportunity to debate improvements now. I am well aware that the subject has been of particular concern to the Sikh community, and that Members on both sides of the House have pushed for guarantees of better treatment for their constituents. I am particularly grateful for the way in which my right hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton South East (Mr McFadden), my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton North East (Emma Reynolds) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Warley (Mr Spellar) have pursued the issue in recent months.

Aviation security is always paramount, and we make that clear in the amendment, but we believe that it is possible for a rigorous security regime to exist alongside dignity for passengers with specific religious clothing requirements. The way in which security staff treat the Sikh turban is a particularly good example. In 2010, the European Commission introduced requirements for religious headwear to be subject to manual searches. It has been suggested that, given that the UK is the only EU member state with a substantial Sikh community, Europe failed to understand the specific sensitivities of the turban: that it should not be touched by another person, and that its removal should not be required.

The UK reached an agreement with the Commission enabling airports to opt into a trial allowing the swabbing of turbans for explosive residues, a compromise that was broadly welcomed by the Sikh community. However, a number of UK airports have chosen not to opt into the trial, which has caused significant distress and anger among Sikhs. We want to see a more consistent approach which would ensure that people with specific religious requirements, whatever their faith, are treated with dignity.

--- Later in debate ---

[Julie Hilling]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention because I absolutely agree with him. That is why I am very concerned that if cost is a driving force within security, airports may look to see how they can reduce costs rather than, as the hon. Gentleman says, continuing to be innovative. As he so rightly says, it is not enough to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted and say, “They got through there but we can stop them next time.” We have to stop them the first time—an incredibly difficult task.

[Nigel Mills]

Will the hon. Lady join me in welcoming the full body scanners that have been installed by Manchester airport? The evidence is that not only are they cheaper to run and much preferred by the passenger for being less intrusive—there is no need for the physical pat-down—but they maintain all the security features. That is the kind of security innovation that we would like to see, and it is a crying shame that there is a threat from the European Union that the use of those scanners will not be allowed to continue.

[Julie Hilling]

Clearly, the hon. Gentleman has already seen my speech. I shall go on to talk about Manchester airport.

We have heard about the profiling of potential offenders. I am concerned that people with brown skins are more likely than others to be pulled over for more rigorous security checks, and I am not yet convinced that that will not occur. We have seen what happened with stop and search on the streets. Will that be replicated in our airports? The percentage of black and minority ethnic people who are stopped and searched by the police is much higher than that for the white population, and the police can argue, as can any security service, that certain people are more likely to be involved in street crime and gang-related violence, but the result is the capturing of everybody of a certain colour or ethnicity, which can become very worrying.

My hon. Friend the Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra), who is no longer in her place, spoke about the Sikh gentleman who was asked to remove his turban. We must ensure that people will not be targeted because of the way they look or because they come from a certain background. We need to ensure that people are treated the same and that people who meet certain criteria are the ones who are picked out.

Midland Main Line

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Monday 16th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his remarks. He and I have often met on East Midlands Trains services so we are personal users of the midland main line and we know how important it is. He is absolutely right about freight and the importance of getting it off the road and on to rail. That is why we need to have the upgrade and electrification works. Network Rail has told me that it estimates that by 2020 freight usage on the line will have increased by 50%.

Electric trains are quieter and emit less carbon dioxide per vehicle mile. It is estimated that electrification of the route from Bedford to Sheffield would slash carbon emissions by up to 12,000 tonnes.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

I add my congratulations to my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. Does she agree that the one disadvantage for the east midlands is that people can get to London so much faster by driving to Tamworth and taking the west coast main line, or over to Grantham or Newark to take the east coast main line? If we could get east midland main line trains up to the right speed, we could lose all those wasted car journeys too.

[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the case for getting people out of their cars and on to rail. It is not just about freight; passengers are incredibly important. It says something about the midlands. The time for investment has very much come. The midlands are a growing and important area of our economy and need this investment.

Civil Aviation Bill

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Monday 30th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Luton North (Kelvin Hopkins) and to have witnessed the maiden speech of the hon. Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra). Having visited her constituency several times a couple of months ago, I can understand why she chose to speak in this debate—I have never seen planes fly so low, except at an airport, and at one point I could almost see what passengers were eating for their lunch. It is obviously an important part of her area’s local economy.

I cannot claim to live in or represent a constituency quite so close to an airport, my nearest one being East Midlands airport, which is about 20 miles away—I know that number well because I use East Midlands Parkway station to travel down to London. It is one of those deceptive airport parkway stations in that it is not possible to get to East Midlands airport from it without catching a bus—except that the bus has been cancelled because no one used it. It is a bit confusing, therefore, for someone arriving from abroad at East Midlands airport, thinking that they can catch a train but finding that they need to get a taxi or some other form of transport to get there. Perhaps, in the long run, HS2 might rectify that, and we might actually get a rail station on the site of the airport.

I join other Members in recognising the Bill as a sensible way of improving the regulation of airports. It is right to start by acknowledging how important airports are to the economic growth of their local areas and of the country as a whole. Many Members will know that East Midlands airport has the distinction of being one of the biggest freight hubs in the country, employing a substantial number of people. Not everyone living under the flight path and who gets to experience night-time freight planes, which sadly do not tend to be the most modern or quietest of planes, will share that enthusiasm, but the effects of the serious number of jobs created ripple out to nearby constituencies, including mine, which is home to the UPS depot in Somercotes.

There are issues, however, with changing any regulatory regime and the possibility of introducing an economic regulator. When I saw the Bill, I feared that these regulators might decide that regulating only three airports was not enough and that they might want to expand their remit to cover a few more, including, for example, Birmingham or Manchester—two airports that my constituents would use regularly, being only about 55 to 60 miles apart—so I welcome the fact that the Bill introduces no real change to how new airports can be brought under that regulatory regime. I do not see the need for economic regulation, given the amount of airport competition in the wider midlands area. I carried out some research to see how many airports I could get to in a 60-mile drive. In addition to East Midlands airport, there were Birmingham, Coventry, Doncaster, Sheffield and Manchester. That is a lot of choice for people booking a holiday, and the number of destinations available from all those airports provides plenty of choice for both scheduled and packaged flights.

My hon. Friend the Member for Tamworth (Christopher Pincher) said that even with so many airports in the area, many people still have to use Heathrow for long-haul flights. Those of us who, to our shame, do not always holiday in the UK know, from comparing flights and prices, how often we can fly only from Heathrow—unless we fancy a couple of changes at Paris or Amsterdam, for example. We need to spread out to the rest of the country some of that capacity and some of those direct flights to the most important trading countries and holiday destinations.

I have touched on the environmental impacts of airports. It is strange that we are producing a Bill setting out how airports can be licensed under an economic regulatory regime, because most of our constituents would think that, when looking to license an airport or impose conditions, the possible environmental damage would be taken into account. The main consideration that people raise is probably the noise for surrounding houses. There must be some link between that and regulation, because it would be strange if a licence could not be removed from a company that was blatantly and flagrantly flouting those regulations—although I accept that we do not want multiple regulators regulating the same things, and I recognise that those noise issues are best addressed elsewhere.

The one issue in the Bill that will get the attention of consumers and passengers is the welcome extension of the ATOL rules. I speak as someone who keenly looks at the price of flights and holidays—I check out the various travel agents and airlines, and pick the cheapest one—but it is always difficult to find out whether something is covered by ATOL. That problem is not helped by the reality of how people book holidays. Everyone knows that package holidays are covered. Twenty years ago, 97% of holidays were package holidays, but it is now less than 50% and falling. The concern is that people do not realise that they do not have ATOL protection. Some might say, “Well, we should all have travel insurance, and surely airline failure is covered in my travel insurance policy,” but actually people have to check their travel insurance carefully to find out whether they are covered—many do cover it but some do not or put a limit on how much can be claimed.

If I book a flight with a cheap airline—let us take Ryanair as an example, although they are all much the same—I will probably appreciate that it is a point-to-point flight and that the airline does not take responsibility for delays or anything else that might impact on me. When I get my ticket confirmation, however, I might get an advert reading, “Do you want cheap car hire?”—through a separate car hire company—or, “Do you want one of these cheap hotels we’ve found?” To what extent does that become a package that would come under the flight-plus rules, or are those completely separate bookings that I choose to make through the hotel and car hire providers? It is not entirely clear whether that would be a package in the way that I might understand a Virgin Holidays package, with a flight and hotel, to be.

It is important to tease this out and ensure that when we make this change we make things clearer for the consumer, and that we do not lead more people to think, “I’m definitely safe and covered now,” when, actually, they have bought the flight separate from the car hire company or hotel. One option would be to make everything covered by ATOL. That would ensure complete clarity and freedom of competition between travel agents and airliners. I accept that there is the risk that if I book my flight through the Dutch KLM website, rather than the UK one, I might get it for £2.50 less because I would not have to pay for the ATOL cover, but we are not talking about a huge material amount on the price of the flight. It would, however, get us the clarity that we are rightly seeking.

Overall, I strongly welcome the Bill as a simplification of the regulatory regime for airports. Everyone wants all our airports to offer the biggest range of destinations and airlines, and to be as cheap as possible so that we can get the cheapest flights. The Bill will take us some way in that direction. I welcome the clauses requiring airports to publish full passenger service information, and I agree that it should include the whole passenger experience, from arriving at the airport to the annoying behaviour of some airports that prevent us from dropping people off without paying for parking or make us drop them off so far from the airport that they have to lug suitcases around—not to mention those trolley charges that result in us carrying three suitcases around the airport just to save £1. All those costs should be clearly published, so that I can compare what my full journey costs will be and ensure that I do not need a taxi from somewhere or have to pay all those little hidden costs, and so that I can also understand and fully appreciate what the cost and quality of my full airport experience will be.

Otherwise, this Bill will be a great step forward, and I strongly welcome it.

--- Later in debate ---

[James Wharton]

My hon. Friend, who is a member of the Transport Committee, has, in true expert fashion, predicted much of what I want to say. Later I will touch on some of the points that he eloquently raises.

The regional issue, which is so important for those of us in the north, as well as those in the south-west—indeed, it is important for those in any part of the country that is that much further from the capital—should not and will not go away. My constituency is served by Teesside airport, which covers three constituencies: Sedgefield—I see the hon. Member for Sedgefield (Phil Wilson) in the Chamber—Stockton North and my constituency of Stockton South. Teesside airport has quite a long and interesting history, which I will not dwell on, although the recent history, which is relevant to what I want to say, sadly shows a certain level of decline. In 2006, around 1 million passengers went through the airport; in 2011, the figure was fewer than 200,000.

When I say Teesside airport, some hon. Members look at me with a little confusion, because they will have heard it referred to as Durham Tees Valley airport. A few years ago the name was changed, against much local opposition and amid much local concern. As far as I can tell, whether by looking at maps or historical records, Tees valley as a geographical area does not exist, and Durham is rather a long way away from the airport. None the less, Teesside international airport was officially renamed Durham Tees Valley airport. As a local MP, I raised the issue over the summer. Indeed, I was involved in a campaign to change the name back to Teesside airport, because I know that the issue concerns many of my constituents and those in surrounding areas. Indeed, the Evening Gazette, an excellent local daily newspaper, ran the campaign quite prominently and, certainly recently, it was the second most subscribed to and commented on campaign that it had run. The campaign sparked off a great deal of comment and contributions from local people, because it goes to the heart of some of the challenges we face in that sub-region of the north-east, the strength of identity in Teesside and the value that local people place on it. However, a name alone would not change the future trajectory of an airport or its business or economic success.

[Nigel Mills]

I rise to give my hon. Friend some hope for his campaign. A few years ago, East Midlands airport changed its name to Nottingham East Midlands airport, in the face of huge opposition in Derbyshire and Leicestershire, which jointly fund the airport. The name was eventually changed back to East Midlands airport, so such campaigns can be successful.

[James Wharton]

I thank my hon. Friend, and I hope that in the fullness of time that is exactly what will happen. However, there is a more pressing issue, which is relevant to today, than simply the name of the airport, important as that is: the airport has recently been put up for sale.

Again, I will not go through too much of the detail of how the airport got into that position—the hon. Member for Sedgefield recounted much of the recent history earlier—but I can say with absolute certainty that the fact that it has been put up for sale is a cause of great concern for many of my constituents. We know—I know, as a local person and a local MP, and my constituents know—that only recently Teesside airport was vibrant and successful. It was a highly successful sub-regional transport hub that provided not only international flights, but quick and easy domestic flights down to London Heathrow. Those flights were provided by BMI—British Midland International—and when that service was withdrawn, that had a serious detrimental impact on what has proved to be the airport’s long-term future.

The issue was raised, at some length and on a number of occasions, by the right hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East (Mr Brown) when he was Regional Minister, under the last Government. He campaigned diligently to have Heathrow slots reinstated for Teesside, on the basis that it was an important domestic route that would put passenger flow through the airport and play an important part in providing an economic transport boost to that part of the north-east. He campaigned hard, although sadly unsuccessfully. This is a cross-party issue, with, I believe, cross-party support.

That brings me to some of the specific parts of the Bill before us today. Subsection (1)(b) of clause 18, which deals with what the CAA has to take into account in putting conditions on an airport’s licence, refers to

“such other conditions as the CAA considers necessary or expedient having regard to the CAA’s duties under section 1,”

which I have already mentioned, and which include those relating to the continuity and range of airport services that passengers must be able to enjoy. In addition, clause 1(3) says:

“In performing its duties under subsections (1)…the CAA must have regard to…(d) any guidance issued to the CAA by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this Chapter”.

It is my contention that this Bill opens the door for the Secretary of State to instruct the CAA, through the guidance issued, that it must give proper attention and pay heed to the overall economic needs of the sub-region in the north-east.

I accept that this issue has been visited before. As I have mentioned, the right hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East raised it a number of times when he was Regional Minister on behalf of the region as a whole. However, there is a new factor that should now be taken into account: the Government’s recent announcement—a welcome announcement for the economy in the north—that High Speed 2 is to go ahead. At the moment, HS2 goes up as far as Leeds. It will provide some travel time benefits for those travelling down from the north-east, but it does not yet reach stations in the north-east of England. I am sure that in the fulness of time it will do so. Indeed, I and other hon. Members—on a cross-party basis and across the north-east—will no doubt be making the case for investment to bring high-speed rail as far north as is necessary for our constituents to benefit from the economic opportunities that it provides.

None the less, in the foreseeable future, high-speed will not come up as far as Teesside, Newcastle or the north-east region at all. Therefore, although the Government have recognised, through their investment in HS2, the value of cutting journey times to the capital and ensuring that our country—and our nation—is as interconnected as possible, with high quality, high-speed journeys from north to south, they have not yet come up with a proposal that would help to bridge the gap that little bit further north, in the areas and communities that I and so many colleagues across the House represent.

HS2 therefore provides an opportunity for the Secretary of State to consider whether provision should be made for Teesside airport to be given particular weighting to ensure that it has a slot at Heathrow. Teesside will feel the benefits that HS2 will bring to the north, but not quite as acutely as those living in Leeds, for example, or in places from which they can travel to the stations that it will serve directly. Those benefits have been recognised by the Government, and the Bill provides the Secretary of State with the opportunity to set criteria that would allow the CAA to take into account the need for faster travel times from Teesside airport and from that part of the north-east that I represent.

This is both my appeal and my question to the Minister. My appeal is that the Department consider whether the guidance that will be issued under the Bill should take special account of Teesside’s unique position, just outside the envelope of HS2, so that it could benefit from regular, high-speed connectivity with the capital. My question is whether that interpretation of the Bill is accurate, and whether that option would be open to the Secretary of State if the proposals should become law. If it is not, I urge the Government to consider amending the Bill. If it is accurate, I am sure that colleagues across Teesside and the north-east will join me in urging the Secretary of State to ensure that the provisions are used to maximum effect to take into account the needs and views of individuals and businesses in my constituency and in the surrounding communities. They have used Teesside airport over many years and they have been well served by an excellent, local, well-managed service on their doorstep and offered a range of flights. Sadly, however, that service has gone into what I hope is a short-term decline in recent years. I ask for action to be taken, and for the Government to deliver the Heathrow route that would bring great benefit to the people whom I am proud to represent.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Thursday 12th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The right hon. Gentleman is right to point out that we have plans to connect those two high-speed tracks in part of the first phase and his question demonstrates the opportunities for growing that capacity in future years. I think it shows why high-speed rail is so vital to the future of not just the capacity of our rail network but our economy.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

There is great interest in the east midlands about where the route of HS2 and the east midlands station will be located. Will she bring forward the timing of the first announcement of the plans so that we can all understand the potential benefits and downsides of the route?

[Justine Greening]

The timelines are that we will get some initial advice on potential routes later this year, which will enable us to start having those discussions with local stakeholders and that, by 2014, we will have a preferred route on which we can formally consult. I hope that over the course of this year the sorts of discussions my hon. Friend mentions will be able to take place.

High-speed Rail

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Tuesday 10th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point, and I will be keen to look at the environmental opportunities presented by the project as well as the environmental challenges.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

This will be even more popular in Derbyshire if the trains are built at Bombardier. When will we know the detail of the location of the station for the east midlands and the route for the track, which is of some concern to my constituents?

[Justine Greening]

My hon. Friend will have been pleased, over Christmas, to see that Bombardier won the contract to produce train carriages for Southern Rail. We will be getting some initial views on the route later this year, and that is when we would like to see regions, areas and communities trying to reach some consensus on where those interim stations should be.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Thursday 15th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

The only other option available to the Secretary of State—I have to repeat myself again—would have been to cancel the Thameslink procurement completely and abandon the project. That power exists, but there is no power to alter the terms under which the competition is conducted once it has begun. That was made very clear by the representative from the European Commission and by the academic lawyers who gave evidence to the Select Committee.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State confirm that he will look to include socio-economic conditions in future procurement contracts and to give them sufficient weighting that the full economic impact of the contract can be taken into account?

[Mr Hammond]

The Prime Minister has agreed that the growth review should include a review of public procurement in the UK, and that work is now under way. We will look at what happens in other EU countries that are similarly constrained by EU procurement rules, and we will look at best procurement practice in large commercial companies to maintain long-term best value. We will certainly look at the opportunities provided by, and the appropriateness of, including socio-economic criteria, where appropriate.