Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill [HL] Commons
Amendments 13:30:00 The Deputy Speaker (Lord Russell of Liverpool)
(CB) My Lords, the Hybrid Sitting of the House will now resume. I
ask all Members to respect social distancing. There are no
counterpropositions to the Commons amendments to the Air Traffic
Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill, so the only speakers are
those listed and the Minister’s Motion may not be opposed. Short
questions of elucidation from listed...Request free trial
Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill
[HL]
Commons Amendments
13:30:00
The Deputy Speaker () (CB)
My Lords, the Hybrid Sitting of the House will now resume. I
ask all Members to respect social distancing.
There are no counterpropositions to the Commons amendments to
the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill, so the only
speakers are those listed and the Minister’s Motion may not be
opposed. Short questions of elucidation from listed speakers after
the Minister’s response are discouraged. A Member wishing to ask
such a question must email the clerk.
Motion
Moved by
That this House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments
1 and 2.
1: Clause 22, page 13, line 30, leave out subsection
(2)
2: Schedule 8, page 68, line 29, at end insert—
“(iv) an offence under the law of Scotland which arises under
any other provision of the ANO 2016 and relates to unmanned
aircraft, except an offence which is triable only
summarily;”
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Transport ()
(Con)
My Lords, I do not intend to detain the House for long with
my explanation of these amendments, save only to note that the Bill
had a relatively incident-free passage through the other place,
which I, to a great extent, attribute to the careful consideration
it received in your Lordships’ House.
The Bill has returned to enable consideration of two minor
amendments made in the other place. The first is Commons Amendment
1, which removed the privilege amendment, as is the norm in these
cases. The second amendment—here is the mea culpa—will correct an
omission, or an error if you must, in the Bill that resulted from
government amendments made in your Lordships’ House on
Report.
If I may explain: Schedule 8 provides the police, the Civil
Nuclear Constabulary and custodial institutions with the powers
they need to protect the public from the unlawful use of unmanned
aircraft. Paragraph 5 of Schedule 8 sets out the meaning of
“relevant unmanned aircraft offence”. Prior to the government
amendment made in the other place, the offences in the Air
Navigation Order 2016—ANO 2016—included in this definition were
summary-only offences. In relation to Scotland, this definition
should also include offences in ANO 2016 that are triable either
way or on indictment. These offences were included in the
definition of “relevant offence” in the Bill as introduced in
January 2020. They were inadvertently omitted—that was the error,
for which I apologise—by the government amendments tabled on Report
in the House of Lords when the provisions setting out the
definitions that apply in relation to the power to enter and search
under warrant and the supplementary power to retain anything seized
were restructured. If not moved, there would be no power for a
justice of the peace, summary sheriff or a sheriff in Scotland to
issue to a constable a warrant to enter and search premises in
relation to offences in the ANO 2016 that relate to unmanned
aircraft and can be tried under indictment. The supplementary power
for a constable to retain items seized using powers in Schedule 8
for forensic examination, for investigation or for use as evidence
at a trial would also not apply in relation to these
offences.
The policy intention of the Bill remains unchanged and this
amendment will not add any offences or powers not already in the
Bill as introduced in January 2020. With humility and apologies
from the Department for Transport, I beg to move.
(Lab)
[V]
My Lords, I am pleased to support the Commons amendments as
technical changes necessary for the functioning of the Bill. The
aviation industry is critical to the UK economy, and since any
recovery will no doubt be prolonged, I hope the Bill will provide
legislative backing for a modernisation strategy that supports that
recovery. Any restructuring must be supported with a transitional
strategy, for workers and our regional economy, that capitalises on
the opportunity to grow industries in green technology. I look
forward to the House revisiting this in the future. I am grateful
that the noble Baroness, Lady Vere of Norbiton, has engaged with
the Opposition Front Bench during the passage of the Bill. I also
thank all those from across the House who have taken part in its
stages.
(LD) [V]
My Lords, I too would like to thank the noble Baroness, Lady
Vere, for her gracious apology on behalf of the department for its
omission. Of course, I accept that the amendments are necessary
and, like the noble Lord, , I thank all the
people who have been associated with the Bill during its fairly
long passage. I hope it may now pass into law.
(CB)
My Lords, I too support these amendments. Finally, this Bill,
which started its passage through Parliament in January 2020 is to
reach the statute book. I am sure that, with a justified sense of
pride and relief, the Minister and all those in her Bill team, who
worked so hard to achieve this outcome, deserve the commendation
received from all sides of the House.
It is a piece of legislation that will not stand still. The
announcement that the CAA has approved trials of
beyond-visual-sight operation of drones will need to be reflected
in the instructions for policing unmanned aircraft presently set
out in this legislation. That process will continue, I hope
smoothly, as technology and experience help to chart the way ahead.
Meanwhile, I join in commending the efforts made to enact this
important business, for air traffic management in
particular.
(Con)
I thank all noble Lords for their constructive engagement on
these amendments, and for their comments and short contributions
today.
Motion agreed.
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