UK Parliament / Open data

Civil Aviation Bill

Proceeding contribution from Justine Greening (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Monday, 30 January 2012. It occurred during Debate on bills on Civil Aviation Bill.
The hon. Gentleman correctly points out that exclusion and I will address his point shortly. When Sir Joseph Pilling reviewed that matter in 2008 he concluded that the current approach was appropriate. Importantly, the CAA's decisions will become more accountable because the Bill will provide greater access to challenge regulatory decisions. As the CAA discharges its responsibilities, it is essential that its decisions are guided by the needs of customers. Therefore, clause 1 establishes for the first time a single, clear, primary duty on the CAA to further the interests of consumers—all passengers and owners of air freight both now and in the future—and, wherever possible, to do that by promoting competition. Some airlines have argued that the CAA's duty should be extended to airlines as users of airports, alongside passengers. The airlines are important of course, but I am in no doubt that if conflicts of interest arise between airlines and passengers, the regulator must be squarely on the consumer's side. To protect consumers at all airports, the Bill gives the CAA powers to enforce competition law concurrently with the Office of Fair Trading in the airport services sector.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
539 c568 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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