Mr Reginald Eyre: Is my hon. Friend aware that the Department's announcement last week about compulsory sales of land is greatly to be welcomed and will help to justify that expense? Can he give further details of the procedure to be adopted, and will he vigorously follow up this new approach?
Mr Reginald Eyre: The hon. Gentleman is referring to a national body, which has nothing to do with Birmingham—the Building Research Establishment.
Mr Reginald Eyre: I associate myself with the doubts about the amendment that have been expressed by the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr. Davis). I follow him in saying to the Minister that there is concern in the city of Birmingham about this enormous problem. More than 500 owner-occupied Smith houses are suffering from defects. As the Minister knows, the BRE report was received in December last...
Mr Reginald Eyre: The number of right hon. and hon. Members who have told me that they wish to take part in this debate on civil aviation and the Civil Aviation Authority's report has convinced me of the need to make a short speech to enable as many hon. Members as possible to take part. I should like to make it plain at the outset that I strongly support the privatisation of British Airways and I wish it a...
Mr Reginald Eyre: The hon. Gentleman is right in referring to the need for international agreement on the routes in question. They have been obtained in the past and the Secretary of State, if he agrees with the line that I am developing, would undoubtedly do his best to be successful in those negotiations. I am trying to show that BA is in a very strong position and to spell out reasonably the cause of the...
Mr Reginald Eyre: I said that there is an effective ban on competition on international routes at Heathrow. The hon. Gentleman is right, and I still seek to make a short speech. When considering the privatisation of Sealink, the Secretary of State specifically excluded the tender of European Ferries, since the amalgamation of those two operations would produce a dominant market position in the cross-Channel...
Mr Reginald Eyre: I shall not presume to discuss future licensing arrangements. My speech relates to the Secretary of State's preparations for privatisation.
Mr Reginald Eyre: I appreciate that point. My hon. Friend told me that he had received a number of representations, but the facts that I have given should reassure him about the enormous strength of British Airways and its future. I seek to show the reasons for the anxiety amoung the smaller organisations in the private sector.
Mr Reginald Eyre: I will give the hon. Gentleman an example, but he will remember that I have paid tribute to the work of Lord King and his team in making this nationalised industry efficient and profitable. I must refer to one other worry of the independent sector. One of the most efficient sectors of British air transport is the package holiday charter airline business. Those carriers, including Britannia,...
Mr Reginald Eyre: I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham (Mr. Couchman) on his diligence in raising this important subject at this hour in the morning. I also congratulate him on the way in which he presented a number of basic facts. I want to deal with one aspect — tourism. It may seem strange for a Birmingham Member to be interested in tourism, but Birmingham has taken a great initiative...
Mr Reginald Eyre: I recognise the anxiety expressed by my hon. Friend the Member for Saffron Walden (Mr. Haselhurst) about the quality of rail passenger services between Cambridge and Liverpool Steet, London. My hon. Friend has been most diligent in pressing upon the Department and the appropriate officers of British Rail's Eastern region, as well as upon the chairman of the British Railways Board, his views...
Mr Reginald Eyre: —of a through service to London. However, customers using the stations between Bishop's Stortford and Cambridge will experience a reduction in the quality of service between the morning and evening rush hours. During this off-peak period, customers using Audley End station will have a through service to London every two hours and not hourly as now. They will also have the use — as will...
Mr Reginald Eyre: The figure is £13 million.
Mr Reginald Eyre: There is no statutory requirement for the British Railways Board to seek my right hon. Friend's authority to dispose of surplus land, although it notifies us before disposing of surplus track formation under a 1974 non-statutory arrangement.
Mr Reginald Eyre: I note the hon. Gentleman's second point. I am grateful to him for raising this subject. It is important, particularly in large cities such as Liverpool. Some 149 acres of unused or underused land in Liverpool are now registered. That evidence is available, so potential developers can gain from the information.
Mr Reginald Eyre: I have much sympathy with my right hon. Friend's point. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State recently visited one of the London terminals and surveyed the programme for the development of the 15 London terminals. What my right hon. Friend says about development is relevant to those considerations.
Mr Reginald Eyre: I assure the hon. Gentleman that I shall raise all of those matters with British Rail. He is right to draw attention to the problems of fencing. They are sometimes an obstacle to the disposal of a site because such fencing obligations must be imposed on the purchaser.
Mr Reginald Eyre: I understand the sensitivity of the points that my hon. Friend has raised. They are taken into account in the planning process when the application for development is considered.
Mr Reginald Eyre: No, Sir.
Mr Reginald Eyre: I understand the hon. Gentleman's enthusiasm in support of Manchester airport. He will be aware that the Government supported the Second Reading of the private Bill that was recently introduced by British Rail and that that safeguards the land necessary for a rail link to Manchester airport. As for the railway development that the hon. Gentleman mentioned, it is for British Rail to advance...
