Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Pursuant to the Answer of 19 July 2018 to Question 163494, what assessment he has made of the (a) timeframe and (b) cost to the public purse for the Civil Aviation Authority to take over the responsibilities of the European Aviation Safety Agency.

The UK is seeking a Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement with the EU which maintains liberal aviation access between the UK and EU, as well as continued participation within the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). We are confident of securing this.

We do not want or expect a no deal scenario but we have a duty to responsibly prepare for it. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is therefore implementing plans to take over the responsibilities of EASA if a deal is not reached with the EU. This includes ensuring that they have the correct resources and level of staffing in place.

In line with the user charges principle, the majority of the CAA’s costs are, and will continue to be, funded by industry.