Civil Aviation Bill

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Rochester and Strood (Mark Reckless) in what has been an interesting debate with many informative contributions. As my hon. Friend the Member for Garston and Halewood (Maria Eagle) said in her opening remarks, however, the Bill's arrival is something of a surprise and seems to have more to do with the lack of Government business than with anything else. It is timely none the less, and we welcome it and look forward to it reaching Committee. The Select Committee on Transport has, with its report published on 19 January, furnished us with a good start on the Bill, and the four proposed evidence sessions should mean that we are better informed when the Public Bill Committee begins its work in earnest. As we heard from its Chairman, my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs Ellman), the Committee has made 12 different recommendations in its report and several other important points, and I am sure that the Bill Committee will want to see all those addressed, as well as the other points in the report which were not recommendations. They will be combined with the Library paper, the Department for Transport's impact assessment, the explanatory notes, the Bill itself and the personal briefing last week from the Transport Minister of State and her officials, for which we were grateful. As my hon. Friend the Member for Garston and Halewood and others have said, we Opposition Members send our best wishes to the right hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs Villiers) for a successful operation and a speedy recovery. I am sure that the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker), also wishes to see her back in her place before Committee—otherwise he will be an aviation expert sooner than he might have suspected.