asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will make near-miss incident reporting obligatory on airline pilots flying over the United Kingdom.

No. Whether an incident deserves reporting depends as a general rule on the judgment of the circumstances by the pilots cencerned. For this reason an obligatory system would be difficult to enforce effectively and could inhibit the co-operation which we now receive. Judging from results the present voluntary reporting arrangements work well, and I am glad to record the support which pilots have given to its operation.