Aviation: Passenger Duty

Lord Davies of Coity Excerpts

Monday 23rd January 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sassoon]

That is a hypothetical question because there is no live question about there being a way to reclassify the Caribbean somehow from band C to band B. To illustrate the broader point, however, many of the respondents to the consultation suggested that we should move back from four bands to two, but that would have resulted in all those in short-haul bands A and B paying more, so it would have increased the air passenger duty for 91 per cent of all passengers paying it. There is no easy way of moving places from one band to another.

[Lord Davies of Coity]

My Lords, the Minister has referred to a number of anomalies. Does he accept that the anomalies display unfairness, and what are the Government going to do about them?

[Lord Sassoon]

As I have explained, the previous Government moved from a two-band system to a four-band one, which raised in the order of £300 million when they came into office and, by the time they left office, was raising in the order of £1 billion. These things are not easy. Where there are real difficulties, however, the Government recognise them. For example, special arrangements have been put in place for long-haul flights out of Northern Ireland to recognise its very special circumstances—its land border with a country that has no APD—and to preserve its flights to the United States. We have said that we will also look at the possible devolution of APD to Wales and Scotland.