PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE RELATING TO
THE REPORT
WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 1998
Members present:
| Mr Andrew F Bennett |
Mr Philip Hammond |
| Mr Tom Brake | Mr James Gray
|
| Christine Butler | Mr Bill O'Brien
|
| Mr John Cummings | Mr Bill Olner
|
| Mr Brian Donohoe | Mr Eric Pickles
|
| Mrs Gwyneth Dunwoody |
Mr George Stevenson |
| Mrs Louise Ellman | Mr Graham Stringer
|
| Mr Clifford Forsythe |
|
Mrs Gwyneth Dunwoody was called to the chair.
The Committee deliberated.
Report from the Transport Sub-committee [Air
Traffic Control], proposed by the Chairman, brought up and read.
Motion made, and Question proposed, That the
draft Report be read a second time, paragraph by paragraph.-(The
Chairman.)
Paragraphs 1 to 72 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 73 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 74 read as follows:
74. In order to avoid the problems caused by the
delays to the Swanwick project persisting for several years more,
there is an urgent need for the Department of the Environment,
Transport and the Regions to commission an independent audit to
run in parallel with existing work, which should have a short
and definite time limit, to establish answers to the following
important questions:
- Whether the increasing demands on the personnel
and equipment at LATCC are such that there is an increased risk
of an accident
- Whether the software at Swanwick can be made
to work or whether a simpler system should be used instead. Depending
on the results of this study, a decision must be made as to whether
the Swanwick software system should be abandoned
- Whether NATS has underestimated future traffic
and therefore the air traffic control capacity that will be needed
- Whether dissimilar software systems should
be used at Swanwick and at the New Scottish Centre.
Question put, That the paragraph stand part
of the Report.
The Committee divided.
| Ayes, 13 | Noes, 1
|
| |
| Mr Andrew F Bennett |
Mr Brian Donohoe |
| Mr Tom Brake |
|
| Christine Butler |
|
| Mr John Cummings |
|
| Mrs Louise Ellman |
|
| Mr Clifford Forsythe |
|
| Mr James Gray |
|
| Mr Philip Hammond |
|
| Mr Bill O'Brien |
|
| Mr Bill Olner |
|
| Mr Eric Pickles |
|
| Mr George Stevenson |
|
| Mr Graham Stringer |
|
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraph 75 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 76 read, as follows:
76. The contract for the New Scottish Centre must
not be signed unless the independent audit of the software system
which we have recommended shows that the software at NERC is capable
of working properly.
Amendment proposed, in line 1, to leave out
from the word "the" to "that" in line 2 and
insert "Government can independently verify that the site
acceptance test demonstrates".-(Mr Brian Donohoe.)
Question proposed, That the Amendment be made:-Amendment,
by leave, withdrawn.
Question put, That the paragraph stand part
of the Report.
The Committee divided.
| Ayes, 13 | Noes, 1
|
| |
| Mr Andrew F Bennett |
Mr Brian Donohoe |
| Mr Tom Brake |
|
| Christine Butler |
|
| Mr John Cummings |
|
| Mrs Louise Ellman |
|
| Mr Clifford Forsythe |
|
| Mr James Gray |
|
| Mr Philip Hammond |
|
| Mr Bill O'Brien |
|
| Mr Bill Olner |
|
| Mr Eric Pickles |
|
| Mr George Stevenson |
|
| Mr Graham Stringer |
|
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraphs 77 to79 read and agreed to.
Resolved, That the Report be the Fourth
Report of the Committee to the House.-(The Chairman.)
Ordered, That the Chairman do make the
Report to the House.
Ordered, That the provisions of Standing
Order No. 134 (Select committees (reports)) be applied to the
Report.
Several papers were ordered to be appended
to the Minutes of Evidence.
Ordered, That the Appendices to the
Minutes of Evidence taken before the Committee be reported to
the House.
[Adjourned till Wednesday 1 April at Ten o'clock]
| 
