I thank noble Lords for their consideration of these draft regulations.
On the gathering of statistics, Eurostat oversees the European statistical system, which is comprised of EU member states and selected other countries which are not member states. Work is ongoing to determine our future relationship with the European statistical system; that is being led by the UK Statistics Authority and is subject to ongoing negotiations. Of course, sharing information brings many benefits. We will continue to participate in other statistical work in aviation through ICAO and, specifically, its aviation data programme. Although Eurostat publishes statistics based on the aviation data currently collected, this was always in duplication of the figures published by the CAA. We will continue to publish the statistics arising
from the data collected and they will continue to be in the public domain. We expect to have a future relationship with Europe on data collection.
Air transport data collection is only one part of the transport data currently compiled. As I said, the Office for National Statistics has been carrying out a cross-government review on all of this. While other statistical collections were assessed as being able to continue on an existing basis, in the event of no deal we needed to bring forward the SI on this matter.
I understand the noble Baroness’s point about changing the categories and the way we collect this data. Of course, in order to make it as useful as possible, having as much consistency as possible with Europe and countries across the world is important. We do not plan to change any of the categories. We are carrying over into law what is there at the moment. Should things change in the future, whether at an international or a European level, it would of course make sense to ensure that we have continuity.
On the enforcement mechanism, the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, was not here in 1972—and I was not born in 1972—but the European Communities Act 1972 gives us the power to implement EU obligations. This is the kind of thing that the ECA provision is intended for. It is a civil penalty rather than a fine, and the Airport Charges Regulations 2011, on which the enforcement scheme and the £5,000 amount were based, are made under Section 2 of the ECA to implement a directive. It was an oversight that we did not already have a mechanism to ensure that airports reported this data; other member states do. It is an obligation on us under these regulations and there are precedents around it. There is a penalty of up to £5,000 for airport users who do not notify airport operators of their forecasts in a timely manner, for example.
I take the noble Baroness’s point that this is not an excessive amount for airports. Historically, airports have provided this data in a timely manner. It is in their own interests as well as everybody else’s. There has never been a serious case of non-response, and we do not expect there to be if we leave the European Union without a deal. It is an important tool for accessing data from across airports, so we are confident that airports will continue to comply. However, we now have the enforcement mechanism that we need on the obligations from EU law. That is why, in the event of an agreed deal, this part of the regulation will remain. Following the UK’s departure from the EU, we will need to maintain that enforcement mechanism.
In the event of no deal, this SI will also ensure that the UK’s legal framework for the collection of statistical data will continue to be fully functional and enforceable. The regulations ensure that the collection of this important data has a sound legal basis to continue, while removing the requirement on the UK to provide this data to the European Union, as we will no longer be a member state. However, as I said, we fully expect to work very closely with our European partners in the future, regardless of the outcome of the negotiations. I beg to move.