Exiting the European Union (Civil Aviation)

Kerry McCarthy Excerpts

Wednesday 10th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

It has been some four years since I stood at this Dispatch Box, so it is a pleasure to be back. I took part in Transport orals a few weeks ago, but that was on one of the screens above us. I am very pleased to be here shadowing the Minister today. We have already established a constructive relationship. We debated our first statutory instrument together yesterday in Committee. As I said to her, I will be writing to her and scrutinising what she does, but in a spirit of constructive working. We have the decarbonisation of transport brief and the EU transition brief, both of which are incredibly important in the current circumstances.

The statutory instrument that we are discussing today is uncontroversial in that we accept that, now that Britain has left the European Union and the end of the transition period is in sight, we need to transfer relevant powers away from the European Commission and to the Secretary of State for Transport as smoothly as possible. I understand, a number of statutory instruments will be issuing forth from the Minister in the coming months, and that could be seen as a mechanistic process to ensure continuity. That does not mean to say, however, that we will not scrutinise and challenge if we have concerns about the way that the Government are doing things.

As the Minister said, the function of the measure is to ensure that there are minimum insurance requirements for air carriers and aircraft operators in respect of passengers’ baggage, cargo and third parties. My understanding is that that stems from the 1999 Montreal convention, whereby airlines are responsible for compensation in the case of death and injury to passengers, and are required to be adequately insured to cover any liabilities. The EU civil aviation insurance regulation sets out the minimum level required.

I have one question, which the Minister may have answered in her opening remarks. Given that the statutory instrument transfers power from the European Commission to the Secretary of State to set those minimum requirements, and that he—or she in future—can do so by regulation, is there potentially a risk that the minimum insurance levels will not be the same as they would be if we were still part of the EU scheme? I think that is quite an important point to note.

The statutory instrument is one of many that the Government are having to rush through Parliament as a result of what I would say is an unnecessary focus on an arbitrary date in our exit from the transition period. Given the limitations on parliamentary scrutiny at the moment because of the need for social distancing and the fact that not as many Members can take part in proceedings, as well as the delay that we have had over the past few months, there is a danger that we could be rushing delegated legislation rather than giving it the proper attention that it deserves. Given the need for certainty for the people who will be affected by such legislation, we do not want a logjam towards the end of the year, giving rise to uncertainty about whether arrangements will be put in place or not.

The fact that we have now got started, and that we have dealt with two of the statutory instruments this week, is a good start. I do not think, however, that fixing in law the end date for the transition period has been beneficial to the legislative process, and I am uneasy about the apparent lack of progress in ongoing negotiations with the European Union. The concerns about a damaging exit at the end of the year are very real. That is particularly important for the aviation industry, given that we are in a time of unprecedented economic upheaval for the sector.

The aviation sector’s need for certainty has never been greater. Brexit will inevitably have an impact on a business that is, by its very nature, about crossing borders and relationships with other countries, and the global pandemic has hit aviation especially hard. There has been a devastating collapse in air traffic of approximately 90%, which is putting at risk an economically vital industry that supports 230,000 jobs.

We need clarity from the Government on three major policy areas. The first is the one that we are discussing today—the legislation related to the European Union and the transition period. We also need clarity on the financial support for the industry, and on the nature of the measures that the industry must implement to avoid further spread of covid-19.

I am pleased that today we are establishing a degree of clarity on one aspect, as it relates to the EU transition period, but confusion still reigns over the Government’s quarantine for new arrivals, and we continue to wait for a specific conditional support package for the aviation industry. I and my colleagues in the shadow Transport team are very happy to work with Ministers to try to ensure that the aviation industry is given the certainty, the clarity, the direction and the support that it needs.

Draft Air Traffic Management (Amendment Etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Kerry McCarthy Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2020 General Committees

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mrs Cummins. I do not intend to take up too much of the Committee’s time, which I am sure everyone will appreciate, but I want to place a few things on the record. First, I thank the Minister for the pre-briefing with her civil servants that she offered me earlier today. Particularly with what, on the surface, can seem to be quite obscure statutory instruments, it is always helpful to have access to the same advice as the Minister. I thank the civil servants for taking part in that.

The statutory instrument is not controversial and I do not intend to oppose it, but it is important for the reasons that the Minister outlined. Obviously, air traffic management is an extremely important aspect of the successful and safe operation of the aviation industry, so it is right, now that the UK has left the EU and the end of the transition period looms, that the relevant powers in relation to air traffic management are transferred to the Secretary of State and authorities such as the Civil Aviation Authority and NATS Holdings to ensure that all air traffic flows can safely continue. We might have our own views as to the wisdom of leaving the EU and having to replicate all this or take it back into our hands, but we have probably exhausted that debate, and I do not intend to revisit it, although I cannot promise that I will not at some point in future, particularly as we get towards the end of the year.

The European Union’s single European sky legislation successfully enhanced air traffic safety for many years, so I am glad to see a broad continuity in policy throughout these regulations. We certainly support smooth legislative continuity for the aviation industry as the transition period ends.

There was much uncertainty for the sector because of Brexit, but that has obviously been heightened by the ongoing covid-19 crisis and the fact that so many flights have been grounded. The need for certainty and safety in aviation is why we will not oppose this statutory instrument, and why we will try to work with the transport team as much as possible. I do not have the aviation brief; I have the EU brief, and the brief for things such as decarbonisation of transport, on which the Minister and I have worked closely; I appreciate her doing that. I sent her another letter this afternoon—just to flag that up—about car scrappage. I am sure she looks forward to seeing that in her inbox when she returns to the Department.

At a time when the industry faces such immense economic difficulties because of the ongoing pandemic, it is right that we do not put up any more legislative barriers for the sector. The priority must be providing clarity on the future for the sector post transition, and that is what we are attempting to do today by ensuring that the legislation passes and the responsibilities are transferred away from the European Commission without further hold-up.

As negotiations with the EU continue, albeit far from smoothly—I am sure the Minister will agree there is a lot to get through before the end of the transition period—I hope that the Government ensure that there is close co-operation between the UK and the EU on the research, development and deployment of new air traffic management technologies, regulation and network management functions in future.

Air traffic management and aviation generally is an area where close international co-operation will always be absolutely vital, and the UK’s relationship with the European Union can be no exception to that. I thank the Minister, and you, Mrs Cummins, for giving me the opportunity to speak. I very much look forward to working with the Minister in future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kerry McCarthy Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Stephenson]

I am happy to provide my hon. Friend with that reassurance. The integrated rail plan is looking at various transport investments in the north, and we very much intend that still to report by the end of this year. On the dualling of the A64, I can assure him that that is now officially in the road investment strategy 3 pipeline, and it will be investigated carefully as we prepare to make decisions for the next strategy.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab) [V]]

It is so good to see so many cities and towns now putting in place infrastructure to support active travel, particularly cycling, but not everyone can work or cycle to work, not everyone has a car and no one wants the new normal to be cars clogging up the streets and despoiling the clean air. Why are the Government not working with city regions and other councils on a safety-led scaling up of passenger transport, why did they not talk to local leaders about public transport before urging a return to work and why is there a support package for Transport for London but not for other major cities?

Flybe

Kerry McCarthy Excerpts

Tuesday 14th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Paul Maynard]

My hon. Friend is right to observe, as I did earlier, the importance of these services to the oil and gas sector in particular. The Department and the CAA as a whole are examining the economic impact of any changes that may occur across all our regional airports, but our focus is on working hard to ensure that we get the right result.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

I entirely accept the importance of regional airports to jobs—Bristol airport is on my doorstep and I was a director of London Luton airport in my days as a councillor in Luton—but the fact that the Minister can come to the House to answer an urgent question about domestic flights without mentioning decarbonisation and climate change once just shows—[Interruption.] He has mentioned them in response to questions but did not mention them in his initial response. He has been prompted to do that. It is not enough to kick it into the long grass and say, “This is something we’re going to deal with in the future.” Decarbonisation and climate change need to be factored into the Minister’s response to the Flybe emergency and APD now.

[Paul Maynard]

I have mentioned decarbonisation at least three times. I tried to obey Mr Speaker’s instruction to keep my opening statement brief. I entirely recognise the importance of decarbonisation, and a significant amount of work is occurring in the Department, between two Ministers. I ask the hon. Lady to wait to see the documents when they are produced.