Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill [HL] (First sitting)

Sadik Al-Hassan Excerpts

Tuesday 20th October 2026 Public Bill Committees

[Keir Mather]

I agree with my hon. Friend, and I will use that as a springboard to raise another piece of the puzzle: the guidance given to GPs about the advice they give patients when they are diagnosed with a particular condition.

[Sadik Al-Hassan (North Somerset) (Lab)]

May I kindly suggest that the guidance should also be extended to pharmacists, given that we will be supplying the medicine?

[Keir Mather]

My officials will be getting nervous, because we are creating lots of extra considerations. That said, I think hon. Members’ points are very well made. They speak to the fact that the provisions in the Bill—the consultation and the agility of the Secretary of State’s consumer protection-making powers—allow us to advance across a range of issues that affect not just those with disabilities or additional needs but everyone who uses our aviation sector, and to improve their rights in a meaningful and purposeful way.

I hope I have sufficiently answered the questions of the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam. I have little more to add on clause 4, other than that it will help us address an issue that desperately needs to be dealt with by ensuring that people who use wheelchairs and mobility aids can travel with confidence in the knowledge that, if their devices are damaged, they will get the compensation they deserve. I commend the clause to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 4 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 5

Direct enforcement of consumer protection legislation by CAA

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.