Consultative Committee (GPACC)
Welcome to the Glasgow Prestwick Airport Consultative Committee Website.
The Airport Consultative Committee is the forum in which the management of Glasgow Prestwick Airport will interact and exchange information and ideas with communities in the vicinity of the airport, local authorities, local business representatives, Airport users and other interested parties.
All UK airports over a certain size are statutorily required to have an Airport Consultative Committee. Glasgow Prestwick’s ACC was one of the first, having been in existence since the late 1960s, and infact pre-dates the legislation. The UK Government, through the DfT, issue Guidance for the operation of Airport Consultative Committees. GPACC take full account of this Guidance in its constitution, operation and role. The role of the Committee is to provide greater understanding both to the community, about airport operations and to the airport management company, about the local and environmental impacts of those operations and future proposals.
GPACC are fully independent of Prestwick’s owners and operators. This is helpful given the role that the Committee has. The Committee has worked effectively with a number of owners and operators over the years and has always acted in a role which can be summarised as one of “critical friend”. Since 2013 the airport has been owned by the Scottish Government and is operated by an arms length company, Glasgow Prestwick Airport Holdings.
The Committee has always recognised the airport’s role as an important local employer and an influential driver of the Ayrshire, South West Scotland and the Scottish economy and has sought to foster and promote this role where it can.
It also acts as a “critical friend” to the airport, monitoring change and challenging performance where necessary. It has a role in protecting and enhancing facilities for passengers, to improve the passenger experience. It promotes the exchange of information and ideas, helps monitor trends and increases effectiveness by drawing on local knowledge.
The Committee does not hold executive powers, nor is it a dispute resolution forum. However, it works, where it can, to promote discussion and resolution of any differences.
The CEO of GPA attends GPACC meetings and presents a quarterly report but is not formally a member of the Committee. In order for GPACC to carry out its role, it is essential that GPA managers participate fully in committee proceedings and engage with the committee at an early stage so that the committee can be involved with future plans and take a constructive role in their development, taking advantage of the specific knowledge and expertise members may have. The management should be willing to be influenced by the discussions and opinions of the Committee in order to make the process of consultation meaningful and they should be clear about where and why the Committee’s views cannot influence a situation.
The Committee’s Principles
GPACC work to a set of principles:
All ACC members are expected to participate fully in the work of the Committee. Members are expected to adhere to the following Code of Conduct:
The Constitution of this Committee is subject to S.35 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 and conforms to Guidance issued by the Department for Transport in December 2015 on Airport Consultative Committees.
Title
The Committee’s title is the Glasgow Prestwick Airport Consultative Committee and is also known by the acronym GPACC.
Purpose
The Committee’s purpose is to enable the Airport operator, communities in the vicinity of the Airport, local authorities, local business representatives, Airport users and other interested parties to exchange information and ideas.
Officers of the Committee
Membership
The Committee consists of Members appointed or drawn from a range of organizations, for details of the members of the Committee and any Sub-Committees – see the Membership Page
Meetings
Order of Business
Quorum
Minutes
Notice of Items for Agendas
Voting
Disclosure of Personal Interests
Urgent Business
Advisors
Public Access to Meetings
Confidential Items of Business to be considered by the Committee or Sub-Committee
Complaints
Membership
The Officers of the Glasgow Prestwick Airport Consultative Committee
Chairman | Bob Smith |
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Vice Chair | TBA |
Secretary | TBA |
Treasurer | James McCall |
Office Holders
A Chairman and a Vice Chairman are independent and appointed by members. The initial appointment is for three years, thereafter on a yearly basis. The Chairman and Vice Chair must act at all times on an impartial basis whilst in office.
The Secretary is also independent so that proceedings can be seen to be open and transparent and there is no undue influence by the company on committee matters. The Secretary prepares minutes and papers for meetings and circulates them in advance, draws up the agenda in consultation with the Chairman, maintains the committee’s website and draws up responses to official consultations and other matters as needed.
The Treasurer is drawn from the Committee membership and operates GPACC’s bank account. The treasurer presents an annual statement of accounts in January each year. GPA does not currently provide any funding towards the effective working of the committee.
GPACC are members of the United Kingdom Association of Airport Consultative Committees and the Chairman and Secretary normally attend the Annual Liaison meeting of UKACCS which is hosted at one of the member airports. Matters of common concern to airport consultative committees are discussed at these meetings. A report of the discussions is circulated afterwards.
Airport Consultative Committee
Most members are nominated by their sponsoring organisation, although there are a number of individual members appointed because of their relevant expertise. Broadly speaking there are three types of membership:
Where a member cannot attend a meeting they should inform the Secretary beforehand and to send a notified deputy of suitable standing. A register of attendance is kept and any member absent for two consecutive meetings without explanation will be asked to give one. In cases of persistent non-attendance (three or more meetings) the member may be asked to resign. The Consultative Committee has 21 members (including the Chairman) appointed by the following organisations. Each organisation appoints representation as stated below.
Authority/Body | Representative |
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Chairman, Airport Consultative Committee | Bob Smith |
Secretary, Airport Consultative Committee | TBA |
Vice Chair | TBA |
Treasurer | James McCall |
South Ayrshire Council | TBA |
East Ayrshire Council | Councillor John McGhee |
North Ayrshire Council | Councillor Anthony Gurney |
Dumfries and Galloway Council | Councillor Andrew Giusti |
Police Scotland | Sgt Neil Learmonth |
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport | TBC |
Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce & Industry | Claire Baird |
Co-Opted Member | George Smith |
Prestwick Community Council | James Riach |
Visit Scotland | TBC |
GPA Passenger Representative | Dr William McAlpine |
General Aviation | Bob Logan |
North Air | Ian Masterton |
South West Trans | TBC |
Monkton Community Council | Harry Middleditch |
UWS | Wilson Barrie |
CEO Glasgow Prestwick Airport | Ian Forgie |
CFO Glasgow Prestwick Airport | Sheena Beckwith |
CEO Assistant Glasgow Prestwick Airport | Janet Kindness – Muir |
The Committee meets quarterly, usually on the first Friday of March, June, September and December at 2.00 p.m. Meetings are normally held at the airport.
Papers should be circulated to members 10 days beforehand by the Secretary.
Members are expected to respect confidentiality whenever this is indicated by GPA or the Chair.
Members are expected to report back to their sponsoring organisations regularly and can do this by a short oral or written report of their own.
Matters to be discussed at meetings will include, but are not confined to, updates from GPA on passenger numbers, freight, other income sources, punctuality, new services, compliments and complaints, noise and track-keeping, passenger services including security times, baggage handling, any relevant planning matters, airspace changes, current consultations and community initiatives.
Any significant minority opinion should be reflected in the recording of the meeting discussions and decisions as well as all matters of agreement.
Diary of Meetings
Dates may be subject to change.
2025
Confirmed dates for the quarterly meetings of the Consultative Committee in 2025 are:
Meetings will normally be held at 14:00 in the Board Room at Glasgow Prestwick Airport.
Any queries should be addressed to:
TBA
Secretary
Glasgow Prestwick Airport Consultative Committee
Previous Agendas and Approved Minutes
2025
Agenda | Approved Minutes |
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GPACC March 2025 Agenda | Minutes in approval |
GPACC June 2025 Agenda | |
Agenda to be confirmed September 2025 | |
Agenda to be confirmed December 2025 |
2024
2023
To contact the Committee e-mail the
Secretary: TBA
E-Mail: TBA
Please note, this email is not for General Airport enquiries. Any General Airport enquiries should be directed to the Contact Us section.