Appendix 1
S.I. 2012/1017: memorandum from the Department
for Transport
Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing)
Regulations 2012 (S.I. 2012/1017)
1. By a letter dated 23rd May 2012, the Joint Committee
on Statutory Instruments requested a memorandum on the following
points:
"(1) Is regulation 8(1) intended to
impose a requirement? If so, explain how the intention is achieved
and, if not, explain the intended legal effect of the provision
and how it has that effect.
(2) Given that regulation 50(1) limits the
application of Part 5 of the Regulations to specific decisions,
explain the inclusion in that Part of regulation 50(2), which
relates to other decisions.
(3) Explain the intended purpose and effect
of including regulation 66."
Purpose of Regulation 8(1)
2. Regulation 8(1) is intended to impose a requirement
on the Civil Aviation Authority to publish in its Official Record
any notice or other matter which it is required to publish under
other provisions of the Regulations. The Department nevertheless
accepts that its drafting does not unambiguously achieve the underlying
policy intent. However, it does not anticipate any difficulty
in practice because the Civil Aviation Authority will meet its
obligations to publish by publishing in its Official Record, as
that is its usual practice.
Relationship between Regulation 50(1) and Regulation
50(2)
3. Regulation 50(1) makes it clear that Part 5 of
the Regulations applies only to certain decisions made by the
Civil Aviation Authority. Regulation 50(2), which is included
in Part 5, relates to decisions other than those to which Part
5 applies. The intention behind regulation 50(2) is to make it
clear that decisions on matters not covered by regulation 50(1)
may be made by an employee of the Civil Aviation Authority as
well as by a Member. The Department accepts that the wording
of regulation 50 may be confusing to the reader, but again, considers
that in practice little, if anything, is likely to turn on it.
Intent and Effect of Regulation 66
4. Regulation 66 is intended to make clear that even
where there is an ongoing and formal decision-making process including
any hearing, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) may continue to
use the powers under regulation 38 or 46 to provisionally vary
a licence with immediate effect, if in the Civil Aviation Authority's
opinion, it is in the interests of consumers to do so. As regulations
38 and 46 provide the CAA with an essential consumer protection
measure, the intent behind regulation 66 is to put the scope of
these powers beyond any doubt, even though the drafting of regulations
38 and 46 may make this strictly unnecessary.
5. The Department is grateful to the Committee for
raising these points, and will consider whether or not appropriate
amendments need to be made at the first available opportunity.
Such opportunity may arise during the course of next year if
the Civil Aviation Bill, currently in the House of Lords, is enacted.
Department for Transport
29 May 2012
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