Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the report by the Civil Aviation Authority entitled CAP3010: Annual Report & Accounts 2023/2024, published on 12 September 2024, if she will take steps to ensure (a) the accuracy of (i) drone operator (A) numbers and (B) projections and (ii) other information in that report and (b) that accurate data is used in future regulatory decisions affecting the drone industry.

Late last year the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) became aware of an error in its Annual Report and Accounts for 2023/24 and immediately notified the Department for Transport. The Department for Transport officially put this error right by means of a correction slip. This was laid in both Houses of Parliament on 16 December 2024, alongside the original report which had been laid on 12 September 2024. This corrected error has had no implications for regulatory decisions, charging models or future projections made or to be made by the CAA. The CAA has since taken steps to further strengthen its Annual Report and Accounts auditing process to confirm the accuracy of all the statistics in future Annual Reports and Accounts before they are laid in Parliament.