I do not have those specific numbers, but we are reassured that the CAA is fully prepared. We have already allocated it some funding from the Treasury to ensure that it has the proper resources in place.
5.15 pm
A number of noble Lords brought up wet leasing. Just to clarify, reciprocity will count for EEA members, by virtue of the EEA agreement, as well as EU members. Maintaining the current wet leasing arrangement is the right thing to do for the industry as a whole and for passengers. We are making every effort on this, as well as on other areas, to minimise disruption. Maintaining the current system for wet leasing foreign aircraft is part of that effort. As I said, we expect reciprocity on that.
The future partnership agreement that has been published contains a provision for a comprehensive and ambitious air transport agreement. The noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, rightly highlighted that there is more detail to come on that. It is the overarching aim and there is lots of detail to come below that. The noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, asked about the direct jurisdiction of the CJEU. We have been clear that we will no longer be subject to direct CJEU jurisdiction after the UK has left the EU, but there are models that already allow non-EU countries to participate in the EU aviation acquis. Any disputes could be resolved through a joint committee, for example. That is the model we will be looking at.
As I have said, the majority of our bilaterals are already done in our own right. Where market access beyond Europe is currently determined by EU-negotiated agreements, we are already working with the countries involved to make sure that we can continue those services. We are confident that these arrangements will be in place before the UK leaves. The Department for Transport has a very experienced and able team in aviation negotiation that has been doing this on separate bilaterals for many years.
Specifically on the US, it is again absolutely our aim to maintain liberal market access arrangements between the UK and the US. Discussions are ongoing about post-Brexit air services and really positive progress has been made. We continue to discuss this with the US Government and I hope to be able to update noble Lords in the future.
Turning to some of the questions raised by the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, there are certainly more SIs to come. We have already discussed some aspects of roads, aviation and maritime and will do so again, as well as on rail, in the coming weeks and months. These will be discussed in time for exit day. On the specific question of how many SIs remain on aviation, of the 14 in total, six have been laid. Those still to come cover safety, air service competition, security, air traffic management, aviation statistics, passenger rights, noise and slots. Those are coming and we can all look forward to them.
On standards, we will absolutely discuss standards throughout the SI programme. The noble Lord pointed out that I wrote to him on that and he is quite right that our approach differs across modes. That will be discussed as the specific SIs come up. As for PSOs, where relevant, any EU regulations on PSOs and other modes of transport will be retained through the withdrawal Act. The changes that will be needed will be made through SIs so that, irrespective of the outcome of negotiations, the essential bus, rail and maritime services can continue to operate.
I am sorry to hear about the experience that the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, had at Heathrow. I know that code sharing can cause some issues, but the changes that this SI makes will ensure that all holders of a valid UK operating licence will continue to be UK licensed carriers, and that includes BA. Airlines have been closely engaged throughout the development of this SI and all the other SIs.
As for route licences, these are issued by the CAA to air carriers wishing to operate internationally. Currently a route licence is required only for those air carriers
that operate beyond the EU/EEA, but in a no-deal scenario all UK carriers operating internationally, including to EU member states, will need one. Most airlines already have a route licence—the CAA issues them for free, as I said—and the CAA already has people processing those licences. Everybody who needs one will have one by March.
On the powers to distribute traffic rights and impose measures that would be revoked by this instrument regarding aerial workers’ services such as aerial photography, flying, advertising banners and parachute drop shots, the CAA already issues those permits to non-EU aircraft.
On the question from the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, on the PSO/state aid point, the CMA will take the function previously carried out by the Commission with an appropriate allocation of resources. On scarce capacity, hearings are provided for in the Civil Aviation (Allocation of Scarce Capacity) Regulations 2007, but the noble Baroness is quite right: it is a statement of government policy that we will try to lift any cap on bilateral frequencies in our air service agreements.
Aviation is crucial to the UK economy. We are of course committed to getting the best deal. We are positive that we will not see any disruption in flights. I think that is evidenced by our technical notices publication, these SIs and the comments from the President of the European Council back in March saying that he is determined to avoid any disruption of flights. The latest publication from the Commission last week says that it is absolutely in both our interests that flights between the UK and the EU continue; there were over 160 million of them in 2017. The noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, is right to point out that we need all this to be in place by 29 March. We are genuinely confident that it will be.
I will be brief on the question of the CAA and give a few more details about permits. Happily, there are no limits to these permits. We issue several types of permits—the seasonal ones that I mentioned and the ad hoc charters. I talked earlier about when they will be up for issuing, but we will continue to process them as quickly as possible and do not expect any delays. The CAA expects to process between 100 and 150 seasonal permits and, as I said, it currently issues 3,000 ad hoc permits a year. We do not know exactly how many more will come but it will be able to process at least double that number if necessary. The CAA has been working intensively to ensure that it has the right capacity in place.
On this specific SI, there are two provisions in the instrument that impact the CAA: air carrier licensing and foreign carrier permits. As I said before, only a small number of air carriers do not hold route licences. The system for consideration is being upgraded and it is not a new capability. The provisions in this instrument are estimated to cost the CAA around £100,000. As I alluded to before, last year the Secretary of State provided £2.7 million on an exceptional basis to fund the CAA’s costs to avoid imposing an additional burden on the aviation sector.
The Government remain confident that we will reach an agreement with the EU. Of course it is important that we prepare for the unlikely outcome
that we leave the EU without a deal. I appreciate noble Lords’ interest that we get Brexit right for aviation and, believe me, I share that interest, as does the department, as I hope is evidenced through the detailed SIs and technical notices that we are putting forward. This SI is part of that. It is essential to ensure that a crucial part of the regulatory framework for civil aviation continues to work effectively in the UK from day one after exit. It is part of our preparations for the unlikely scenario of no deal and we hope it provides industry with clarity and stability in regulatory oversight.