Civilian Use of Drones (EUC Report)

Lord Haskel Excerpts

Tuesday 8th September 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Haskel (Lab)]

My Lords, as many noble Lords have indicated, there are two ways in which to look at new technologies such as drones. They can be a tool for invasion of privacy, a tool for terrorists and criminals, and for war, and must be kept under strict control. Or they can be welcomed as a useful new technology—a technology making us more productive and more efficient, and making life easier and more fun. Nevertheless, this requires some regulation.

I am most grateful to our chairman and the rest of the committee members for inclining towards the second alternative—the more progressive choice. I thank, too, our special adviser Tony Henley, and Alicia Cunningham, our clerk, who not only helped our work along but encouraged this progressive attitude. I agree with my noble friend Lord Giddens and the noble Viscount, Lord Astor. During a visit to the USA earlier this year, I could not help but notice that they inclined the other way. I can tell my noble friend Lord Brooke that, as a result of a drone crashing on to the White House lawn, some US states have introduced laws whereby one can register a no-fly zone around one’s house.

However, it was the positive nature of our report that created a lot of interest in the industry. In March, some 50 stakeholders from the industry came here to Parliament to discuss various aspects of our paper. They particularly agreed with our recommendation that rules should be the same across the Union. That would encourage a single market in drones, and particularly in drone services. This seems to be happening within the European Aviation Safety Agency’s current consultation on regulating drones. Perhaps one of the main points that came out of this meeting was the wish to avoid a closed engineering culture in order to encourage outside influence. People said this would bring in fresh perspectives, and so it has done.

Noble Lords have mentioned interesting uses. The CAA says that in the UK alone there are now some 850 mainly small companies that have received permission to conduct aerial work. As other noble Lords have said, drones can be fitted with scientific instruments, trace radiation or find people through thermal imaging. The British Antarctic Survey has many drones to help with mapping. Indeed, drone technology is being used to survey European coastlines where there is sometimes less than an hour between tides in order to do the work. In Halifax, Yorkshire there was the first race meeting, with drones having to follow an obstacle course through a forest.

Of course there are dangers. As the noble Lord, Lord Rees, told us, equipment could drop out of the sky if it loses its signal, or something can go mechanically wrong. But the meeting agreed that the safety rules should be not only harmonised throughout the European Union but be directed towards the risks, rather than define prohibitions. The risks include air-worthiness standards and pilot training. CE European origin marking for small RPAS should be introduced throughout the single market. We thought that JARUS was the right body to do this, especially after we visited it. Insurance companies advised that for larger drones the amount of third-party liability insurance required by law needed to be increased, and there must be clearer guidelines on the obligations of operators. Equally efforts must be made to increase awareness by the public of safety rules, as many noble Lords have said. There need to be distance and height restrictions, and no cameras within 150 metres of congested areas. In its evidence, BALPA was in favour of stricter rules. What is the Government’s view?

Evidence we took from the police during our inquiry indicated that they were still feeling their way. It appeared to me that the task of the police to enforce these safety rules must be more clearly defined. At the same time, more work is needed to better inform users on how to fly drones more safely. Again, this should be encouraged through the press, social media, radio and TV. I presume that the committee that has been set up by the Government to make recommendations will do so on this, too.

Most importantly, there will have to be some way in which to identify a drone’s owner or a responsible person. We recommend a European register. When something serious happens, steps can then be taken to connect the drone with somebody responsible. Phone identification technology is being introduced to do this. All this will, I assume, take place within the general data protection regulations.

I agree that there are technical restraints, particularly with the small drones. Battery life is still limited to 20 minutes and engineers are still working on collision avoidance technology. However, I agree with my noble friend Lord Giddens; perhaps, as artificial intelligence is developed, autonomous vehicles will regulate themselves and find their own way to a charger. Therefore, in order to arrive at better regulation that encourages progress in the use and the technical development of drones, it is important to think about how the future may look and examine the potential. I am indebted to Professor Andy Miah of Salford University who, together with funding from NESTA, is working on developing the potential of drones. I learnt of this work because I am an alumnus of Salford, from before it was a university—when it was a technical college. I must say that much of that work looks like science fiction.

In spite of tougher regulation, things are also moving in the United States. As the noble Viscount, Lord Astor, told us, in May 2015, Amazon was licensed to make deliveries by drone, but the development work is being done here because of our more relaxed rules. The gimbal is an interesting US development. It won a prize for indestructibility by having an external skeleton so that it can bump into buildings or trees without being damaged.

A word on jobs. As with many new technologies, it will certainly create jobs, but it will also destroy some. We have to take that calculation into account. As many noble Lords and I have tried to show, there is much going on in the civil world of drones. We in Parliament need to help it along with up-to-date, sensible and progressive regulation—regulation that will help it thrive in the market, yet be resilient to failure. I hope that this debate and our report will be a contribution towards that end.