New Clause 8 - Duty to report on the transfer of powers from the CAA to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)
Civil Aviation Bill
10:00 am
Karen Buck (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Regent's Park and Kensington North, Labour)
As the hon. Gentleman has made clear, there is no issue in principle about the transfer. Indeed, the annual report of the CAA confirmed that industry and the Government welcomed the proposal, and the CAA was keen to support an initiative that would provide harmonised and legally binding aviation standards in Europe. There is no problem in principle.
The hon. Gentleman seeks assurances that the transfer is proceeding smoothly. I remind him that we are at a very early stage. Given the scale and complexity of the process across Europe—I believe that it began in late 2003—it is fair to say that there are some teething difficulties. The United Kingdom deputy chairman of the management board is leading a joint agency and national aviation authority working group. That has concluded that, on manpower, there are a number of planning risks and uncertainties that require rigorous and continuous monitoring. He has made a number of recommendations to ensure that proper management and governance processes are put in place to address those, and the management board has accepted them.
The CAA is actively involved in that work, and will continue to be involved in the ongoing work of ensuring effective manpower planning and in addressing other issues affecting the agency and national civil aviation authority interface as they arise.
I can also reassure the hon. Gentleman on scrutiny. There are still many opportunities to ensure that points are scrutinised. The Secretary of State has a very clear duty—laid down in section 1 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982—to promote aviation safety. The establishment of EASA does not detract from that duty, and there are many well established parliamentary processes by which hon. Members can ask the Secretary of State how he is performing it. They can ask him parliamentary questions, call for debates in the House or in the Select Committee on Transport or can hold an inquiry and, because the development of EASA involves European Union legislation, the European scrutiny committees can examine and, if necessary, debate the measures.
I am confident that all necessary measures are in place to ensure that progress is properly monitored and that the manpower issues are being properly scrutinised to ensure that the transfer is proceeding smoothly. The level of anxiety expressed by the hon. Gentleman is not backed up by the facts. On that basis, I ask him to withdraw the amendment.