My Lords, this amendment relates to drones, a serious issue already rightly raised from the Liberal Democrat Benches this evening. The Committee will recall that at Second Reading, my noble friend Lord Balfe made a powerful speech on the subject from a great deal of personal and professional knowledge. The safety issues associated with drones are critical and, as the House was informed at the time, it was understood that legislation had been drafted to address the problems associated with irresponsible use of drones prior to the election and was therefore in a fit and proper state to be introduced to the House at an appropriate time.
The expectation of a serious accident is very high. It is a matter of concern to Members of both Houses that urgent action be taken to address the law on drones, which needs to be reviewed with, not least, compulsory registration of drones to allow police to track down those flying them irresponsibly. The fact is that the law is not fit for purpose to prosecute the perpetrators of this type of crime, which is a matter of great concern to those of us involved in the passage of the Bill through the House.
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I went to the Public Bill Office to see whether it would be appropriate to introduce legislation that would go beyond the Space Industry Bill to cover airports as a whole. I was rightly advised that, despite any clever wording on my behalf, which was not forthcoming, the scope of the Bill simply covers space activities and suborbital activities, both clearly defined
in Clause 1. I am afraid that more general regulatory issues relating to drones or the aviation sector could not be covered.
What I seek from my noble friend the Minister this evening is clarity on whether the Government intend to introduce legislation on drones before the first licences are awarded under this Bill. If they do and the Minister is in a position to tell me that, that would be satisfactory because at that point the legislation would clearly apply to this Act, and it would be specified in the appropriate legislation at the time.
I apologise for not having given notice to my noble friend. I know that there are one or two further speeches to come, so I am sure that his fine group of experts assisting him will be able to give him a precise answer to that very simple question. In the event that it is unlikely or not projected that legislation on drones will be introduced before the first licences are issued, it is appropriate for us at a later stage of this Bill to make sure that it contains measures enabling determined action against those who irresponsibly fly drones around spaceports. I hope the Committee will support that, if indeed the Government are not going to introduce legislation in the foreseeable future and certainly not before 2019 or 2020. With that one simple question to the Minister, I beg to move the amendment standing in my name.