Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason the Civil Aviation Authority has introduced mandatory flight instruction under the Remote Pilot Competency Level 1 route for commercial drone pilots; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of that requirement on drone training providers.

For operations in the Specific Category, remote pilots are required to demonstrate competency under UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947. In order to enable compliance with the Regulation, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has implemented a competency framework involving instruction and assessment in an operational environment representative of the privileges, limitations and risks of the intended operation. Part of the flight training framework is based on established International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) training and safety principles, including instructor oversight and timely intervention where required.