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Civil Aviation Bill

The noble Lord will recognise that our opportunities are not unlimited. It is only right that, when an aviation Bill is before the House, we look towards the future of the industry, which, as the noble Lord knows, has very long timescales in almost every aspect of its operations. We are not talking about issues which need to be resolved within a year; nor would any action produce a response within a year. There are long lead times, particularly with aircraft technology. That relates very much to the question of the extent to which people are disturbed by night flying and the problems for those who live near airports. In this Bill, we are looking to provide the necessary measures for the government of 2012 and beyond. I presume that that will be a government of my persuasion but, for the purposes of this debate, the noble Lord can look forward to them being a government of his persuasion. Given the problem of night flying, which we all recognise occurs, we are trying to give any government at that time a framework within which they can act to the best advantage of our fellow citizens. The answer to the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, is that the existing legislation, on which we have consulted and reached agreement and on which we will work, I emphasise, until 2012, is not the best framework for post-2012. It is not the best framework because, as I think the noble Lord will agree, this is simply a question of the number of night flights, and I am indicating to him that movements are of great importance. We all have real problems with measuring disturbance on the ground. It is not easy to identify what provokes disturbance in people. I am not saying that planes flying overhead every five minutes and producing 115 decibels of noise would not keep any average citizen awake. I am not saying anything as absurd as that. I am trying to emphasise that people’s disturbance, which is the issue that we have to confront in relation to airline traffic, requires very careful measurement. We recognise that the criterion is not just the number of aircraft taking off or landing, although take-off is the major issue. I am indicating to the noble Lord that, having considered these issues carefully, in this legislation we are seeking to provide a framework within which any government can work effectively in the communities’ interests with regard to such criteria. At present, we are restricted by what we have in place. I reiterate that we do not intend to move before 2012. But I hope that the noble Lord will recognise that the intention behind the Bill is to create the necessary flexibility to take account of new technology and changes to the position adopted by people in relation to night flying. I hope that he will recognise that the Bill is about giving extra guarantees to people—not on the number of night flights but in recognition of the disturbance factor suffered by people. We want to have legislation which any Secretary of State can implement and which the industry can follow successfully once we are beyond the next six years. On that basis, I hope that the noble Lord will withdraw his amendment.