Civil Aviation Bill

Lord Rosser Excerpts

Wednesday 13th June 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rosser]

My Lords, this has been an interesting debate on a Bill that, as my noble friend Lord Smith of Leigh said, we broadly welcome and support, despite the lack of consolidation to which the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin of Roding, referred with some feeling. A considerable part of the Bill was drafted by the previous Labour Government, including important reforms to the aviation industry’s regulatory regime. The reforms cover the legislative framework for the economic regulation of airports and for the Civil Aviation Authority, and provide a primary duty to further the interests of passengers and freight owners. The Bill provides also for the transfer of certain aviation security functions from the Secretary of State for Transport to the Civil Aviation Authority, and the widening of the Secretary of State’s powers so that holidays sold by airlines or arranged on an “agent for the consumer” basis can be included in the Air Travel Organisers’ Licence scheme in future.

On the other side of the coin, environmental protection measures, which were in the original draft Bill, have now been excluded. A number of noble Lords, including my noble friends Lord Clinton-Davis, Lord Davies of Stamford and Lord Soley, referred to airport capacity and the position of Heathrow. There is no doubt that the Minister will wish to respond to this point, and to my noble friend Lord Davies of Oldham, who raised the question of the continuing lack of a government aviation policy.

On the issue of security regulation and the transfer of certain operational aviation security functions to the Civil Aviation Authority, there must be a suspicion, as my noble friends Lord Davies of Oldham and Lord Clinton-Davis said, in the current climate in which the Government have chosen to operate that it is the Secretary of State’s spending review rather than security considerations that will drive the change. The proposed change splits policy and operational matters. The Minister will need to explain how this will improve a security regime that has been in operation successfully since the tragic Lockerbie bombing, and how the proposed significant change in aviation security policy to an outcome-focused, risk-based approach from the current “direct and inspect” policy will operate in practice.

We shall need to know also what parliamentary scrutiny the new regime will receive, not least in order that the Secretary of State’s claim that the security policy changes will not in any way jeopardise what she accepts are the current high levels of security can be tested and checked. There is a risk that staff with considerable expertise in the security field will be lost to the service as a result of the proposed transfer of responsibilities and the uncertainty and upheaval that that will create.

The Government have said that they are keen that as many employees as possible stay in post when their jobs transfer to the Civil Aviation Authority, taking their skills and experience with them. What is the latest position on this issue? Will staff retain their current entitlements on pay, conditions, pensions and redundancy agreements, or should staff be concerned that the ideas of that expert government adviser on human relations, Mr Beecroft, may be implemented and the current arrangements on protecting existing terms and conditions of employment for staff transferring weakened? What assurances can the Minister give on this point?

My noble friend Lord Hunt of Chesterton referred to the importance of addressing environmental considerations. The environmental protection measures that were in the original draft Bill are not in the Bill we are now discussing, as my noble friend Lord Simon and the noble Earl, Lord Cathcart, have also pointed out. Perhaps this reflects the Government’s rapidly declining commitment to such issues. There is no longer a clear duty on the Civil Aviation Authority in terms of economic regulation to have regard to the airport operators’ compliance with environmental and planning considerations and law. Without this, airports may well be reluctant to invest in improving environmental performance. As other economic regulators have to take account of the environment, the Government will have to explain why they have not placed such a duty on the Civil Aviation Authority.

There is a case for ticketing to show the environmental impact of different modes of travel to help passengers make decisions, if they so wish, on which form of transport to use based on the environmental impact of travelling by air, by rail or by coach. Giving passengers better information on different modes of transport and what emissions are generated by journeys would provide the opportunity to make more environmentally friendly choices when travelling.

There should be tougher targets for reducing CO₂ emissions as the industry’s contribution to addressing climate change. The Government have declined to reaffirm even the target we agreed with industry and government. The Bill should lay down a duty for the Civil Aviation Authority to work with the Secretary of State, the Committee on Climate Change, NATS and air transport service providers to meet the UK’s carbon reduction targets.

The aviation industry also needs to reflect on whether it has given environmental considerations the public prominence they deserve. The image that the industry has in some eyes—fairly or unfairly—is of one that pays little regard to such considerations and the actual and potential adverse impacts they have on the public as the industry campaigns for more airport capacity and increasing numbers of flights. Being seen publicly to give environmental issues and concerns a high priority ought to be regarded as hard commercial sense by the industry, as one reason for the degree of opposition to increasing airport capacity and numbers of flights is no doubt a feeling—once again, justified or unjustified—that addressing the environmental consequences of such developments and the impact on the quality of life of those most affected is not a major concern of the industry and its leadership.

On the passenger experience, we agree with the Transport Select Committee in the other place and its concerns about the lack of any requirement to publish passenger welfare plans. My noble friend Lord Davies of Oldham reminded us that the experience faced by many passengers during the severe winter weather of 2010-11 demonstrated the need for the sector to improve its performance in relation to passenger welfare. The Bill does not appear to be robust in relation to the specific duties on airports in relation to passenger welfare and there needs to be a requirement for airports and the Civil Aviation Authority to give greater help to passengers stranded at airports. Putting this in the Bill, rather than leaving it to the regulator to decide whether to do it, would give a clear indication to the regulator that the Government expect this to be looked at as a key area.

We also agree with the Transport Select Committee in the other place that airport licences should be structured so as to address key areas of passenger satisfaction. The Civil Aviation Authority should also be a source of reliable information to passengers on issues that have a considerable impact on the quality and level of service to passengers at airports. There has been much publicity recently, for example, over queuing times at Heathrow Airport, and arguments and disagreements between the airport and the Immigration Service over how long people are having to queue. The Civil Aviation Authority should be able to play an important role here in collating the evidence and publishing it. What steps are the Minister’s department and the Home Office taking to work together more effectively to deal with the queues at immigration and passport control?

Passengers with disabilities and reduced mobility also need appropriate assistance at airports, especially when passing through security. The Government made a decision to abolish the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee which provided a channel for the advice and experiences of disabled people to be given on improving transport provision. Such advice still needs to be fed-in to airports and policy-makers. The Civil Aviation Authority and the Secretary of State should have a duty to produce perhaps an annual report on the service offered to disabled people at airports and by air transport providers and the extent to which such a service meets the relevant guidelines and European legislation already in place.

However, it is not only at airports that at times passengers may not always feel that they are being treated as though they were valued customers. Another area of concern is over ticket prices and surcharges and the extent to which they are as clear and transparent as they might be. A recent survey, published last month in a national newspaper, showed that one well-known budget airline’s high-season rate for a 20 kilogram bag to go into the hold was £70 return, and if you did not book on-line but turned up at the airport with your bag the fee was £130 one way. The survey of budget airlines’ add-on charges showed that it could cost as much as £110 to change the name on a ticket and £120 because your bag weighed three kilograms over the limit. Add-on charges apply to a multitude of things, covering bags, credit card fees, name change fees, flight change fees and fees for taking on special items such as golf clubs.

When the survey tested costs for a one week return flight to Malaga for one person taking a 20 kilogram bag and paying by credit card, it found add-on costs ranging from £34.95 to £82 depending on the low-cost airline operator. One would have thought that this was an area in which the Civil Aviation Authority could play a role in the interests of passengers and in ensuring fairness and transparency.

Under the Bill, the Civil Aviation Authority remains outside the remit of the National Audit Office, despite it being in receipt of public money and being given important new functions. It should be subject to proper scrutiny and it should also have a duty of efficiency, as the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin of Roding, and my noble friend Lord Solely, said, a duty which, likewise, is not provided for in the Bill. As my noble friend Lord Davies of Oldham said, we will want to probe why the Government feel that the arrangements they have proposed will be adequate and appropriate and an improvement on what we are proposing.

We have a number of issues with the Bill that we will wish to pursue in Committee and, in some instances, also on Report depending on the responses we receive to the points we shall be raising. The Bill lays down a primary duty to further the interests of passengers. While we recognise the progress that the Bill represents, we do not consider that as much has been done in the Bill in this regard as could and should have been. However, in overall terms, we support the Bill, much of which was initially drafted by the previous Government. We shall be seeking in our detailed consideration of the Bill to make it even better.