Select committee: Transport Committee
Recommendation 27
Fifth Report - UK aviation: reform for take-off
Published 25 Apr 2022
Paragraph 138
Addressed to Department for Transport
Transport Committee Airlines and airports: supporting recovery in the UK aviation sector All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
To help airports and airlines manage the sudden increase in demand for aviation, the Government should: • prioritise the timely processing of checks for applicants for positions at airports; • allow applicants for airport positions to start supervised classroom training, when their initial security checks are complete; • review whether the number of trainees compared with supervising security officers can be increased from the current 3:1 ratio; • instruct HM Revenue & Customs to provide applicants with personal statements to enable applicants to cover any gaps in their tax and employment status caused by their employers going out of business due to coronavirus; and • ensure that Border Force uses all the means at its disposal to minimise queues at airports, including deploying onsite engineers to maintain e-gates in real time and allowing under-12s to use e-gates. Any such changes should not decrease security standards at airports. Some of those recommendations may require the Government to deviate from legislation introduced when the UK was an EU Member State. Such changes could be quickly introduced under the negative Statutory Instrument procedure.
From: Transport Committee, Fifth Report - UK aviation: reform for take-off (HC 683), paragraph 138, 25 April 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 11 July 2022 (deadline 25 June 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government's response notes most of the Committee's recommendations, agrees with a small number, partially agrees with others, and points to its new strategic framework, Flightpath to the Future, published on 26 May.
- On future pandemic planning, the Government "agrees with this recommendation", and says it "will only consider implementing new public health measures at the border in extreme circumstances".
- On an Airline Insolvency Bill, it "partially accepts" the recommendation: "If a Bill is required, we will work to introduce it as soon as practicable."
- On CAA financial penalties, it has "noted" the recommendation and will set out next steps "in due course" after reviewing responses to its consultation on additional CAA powers.
- It does "not agree" that the CMA needs to review the antigen travel test market, nor that the consultation should be expanded to cover the private travel testing market, saying that market has been dealt with separately.