Civil Aviation Act 1982

Part I — Administration

The Secretary of State

Functions of Secretary of State.

1

• (1) The Secretary of State shall continue to be charged with the general duty of organising, carrying out and encouraging measures for—

• (a) the development of civil aviation;

• (b) the designing, development and production of civil aircraft;

• (c) the promotion of safety and efficiency in the use thereof; and

• (d) research into questions relating to air navigation.

• (1A) The Secretary of State shall also be charged with the general duty of organising, carrying out and encouraging measures for safeguarding the health of persons on board aircraft.

• (2) Subsection (1) above shall not authorise the production of civil aircraft by the Secretary of State.

• (3) The acquisition and disposal of aircraft, aero-engines and aviation equipment in discharge of the Secretary of State’s duty under subsection (1) above shall be subject to the approval of the Treasury.

Constitution and functions of CAA

2

• (1) There shall continue to be a body corporate called the Civil Aviation Authority (in this Act referred to as “the CAA”), which shall be constituted in accordance with the following provisions of this section.

• (2) The CAA is to consist of at least seven but not more than sixteen members.

• (2A) It is to consist of—

• (a) a person appointed to chair the CAA (“the chair”) and other non-executive members, and

• (b) a chief executive and other executive members.

• (2B) The chair and other non-executive members are to be appointed by the Secretary of State.

• (2C) The Secretary of State may appoint a deputy chair from among the non-executive members.

• (2D) The chief executive is to be appointed by the non-executive members with the approval of the Secretary of State.

• (2E) Other executive members are to be appointed by the chief executive with the approval of—

• (a) the chair, and

• (b) at least one other non-executive member.

• (2F) The Secretary of State and the chief executive must exercise their powers under this section to secure that, so far as practicable, the number of non-executive members exceeds the number of executive members.

• (3) Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect with respect to the CAA.

• (4) It is hereby declared that the CAA is not to be regarded as the servant or agent of the Crown or as enjoying any status, privilege or immunity of the Crown or as exempt from any tax, duty, rate, levy or other charge whatsoever, whether general or local, and that its property is not to be regarded as property of, or held on behalf of, the Crown.

3

The functions of the CAA shall be—

• (a) the functions conferred on it by the following provisions of this Part of this Act;

• (b) the functions conferred on it by or under this Act with respect to the licensing of air transport, the licensing of the provision of accommodation in aircraft, the provision of air navigation services ... and the provision of assistance and information;

• (c) such functions as are for the time being conferred on it by or under Air Navigation Orders with respect to the registration of aircraft, the safety of air navigation and aircraft (including airworthiness the health of persons on board aircraft,), the control of air traffic, the certification of operators of aircraft and the licensing of air crews and aerodromes;

• (d) such other functions as are for the time being conferred on it by virtue of this Act or any other enactment;

and nothing in this Act relating to the CAA shall be construed as derogating from any power exercisable by virtue of any enactment whatsoever (including an enactment contained in this Act) to make an Order in Council or other instrument conferring a function on the CAA.

Regulation of performance by CAA of its functions

4

• (1) It shall be the duty of the CAA to perform the functions conferred on it otherwise than by this section in the manner which it considers is best calculated—

• (a) to secure that British airlines provide air transport services which satisfy all substantial categories of public demand (so far as British airlines may reasonably be expected to provide such services) at the lowest charges consistent with a high standard of safety in operating the services and an economic return to efficient operators on the sums invested in providing the services and with securing the sound development of the civil air transport industry of the United Kingdom; and

• (b) to further the reasonable interests of users of air transport services.

• (2) In subsection (1) above “British airline” means an undertaking having power to provide air transport services and appearing to the CAA to have its principal place of business in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man and to be controlled by persons who either are United Kingdom nationals or are for the time being approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this subsection.

• (3) The duty mentioned in subsection (1) above does not apply in relation to anything done by the CAA in the performance of functions mentioned in subsection (3) of section 86 of the Transport Act 2000 which, by virtue of that section, are concurrent functions of the CAA and the Competition and Markets Authority .

• (4) However, when performing such a function the CAA may have regard to any matter in respect of which a duty is imposed by subsection (1) above if it is a matter to which the Competition and Markets Authority could have regard when performing that function.

5

• (1) Subject to section 4 above, it shall be the duty of the CAA, in exercising any aerodrome licensing or certification function in relation to any aerodrome to which this section applies, to have regard to the need to minimise so far as reasonably practicable—

• (a) any adverse effects on the environment, and

• (b) any disturbance to the public,

from noise, vibration, atmospheric pollution or any other cause attributable to the use of aircraft for the purpose of civil aviation.

• (2) The reference in subsection (1) above to an aerodrome licensing function of the CAA is a reference to any function conferred on it by or under an Air Navigation Order with respect to the licensing of aerodromes.

• (2A) The reference in subsection (1) above to an aerodrome certification function of the CAA is a reference to any function falling to be carried out by the CAA under the Aerodromes Regulation with respect to the certification of aerodromes.

• (3) This section applies to any aerodrome in the United Kingdom specified in an order made by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this section; but the Secretary of State may not specify in any such order an aerodrome which is designated for the purposes of section 78 below.

6

• (1) Without prejudice to subsection (2)(a) below, the Secretary of State may, after consultation with the CAA, give it such directions of a general character as to the performance of its functions as he thinks it appropriate to give in the interests of national security; . . ..

• (2) The Secretary of State may, after consultation with the CAA, give it directions to do a particular thing which it has power to do or refrain from doing a particular thing, if the Secretary of State considers it appropriate to give such directions—

• (a) in the interests of national security; or

• (b) in connection with any matter appearing to him to affect the relations of the United Kingdom with a country or territory outside the United Kingdom; or

• (c) in order to discharge or facilitate the discharge of an obligation binding on the United Kingdom by virtue of its being a member of an international organisation or a party to an international agreement; or

• (d) in order to attain or facilitate the attainment of any other object the attainment of which is in his opinion appropriate in view of the fact that the United Kingdom is a member of an international organisation or a party to an international agreement; or

• (e) in order to enable the United Kingdom to become a member of an international organisation or a party to an international agreement; or

• (f) in order to prevent or deal with noise, vibration, pollution or other disturbance attributable to aircraft used for the purpose of civil aviation;

. . .

• (3) In so far as any directions given under this section conflict with the requirements of section 93 of the Transport Act 2000 or of an order under section 94 of that Act, the directions shall be disregarded.

• (4) In so far as any directions given under this section conflict with the requirements of any enactment or instrument relating to the CAA (other than section 93 of the Transport Act 2000 or an order under section 94 of that Act) the requirements shall be disregarded.

7

• (1) Such functions of the CAA as may be prescribed for the purposes of this subsection shall not be performed on behalf of the CAA by any other person; and regulations made by the Secretary of State may provide that for the purpose of performing a function prescribed in pursuance of this subsection the quorum of the CAA shall be such as may be prescribed.

• (2) Regulations made by the Secretary of State may provide for regulating the conduct of the CAA and other persons, including the procedure to be followed by them, in connection with the performance by the CAA of such of its functions as may be prescribed for the purposes of this subsection; and, without prejudice to the generality of the preceding provisions of this subsection, regulations made in pursuance of this subsection may include provision—

• (a) requiring or entitling the CAA, notwithstanding any rule of law, to withhold from any person (hereafter in this paragraph referred to as “the prospective recipient”) information which is furnished to the CAA by another person in connection with any function so prescribed and which in the opinion of the CAA relates to the commercial or financial affairs of the other person and cannot be disclosed to the prospective recipient without disadvantage to the other person which, by comparison with the advantage to the public and the prospective recipient of its disclosure to him, is unwarranted;

• (b) for the imposition on summary conviction of a fine of an amount not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale for any contravention of the regulations.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Financial provisions in relation to CAA

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• (1) It shall be the duty of the CAA so to conduct its affairs as to secure that its revenue (including any grant towards revenue made to it in pursuance of section 12(1) below is not less than sufficient to meet charges properly chargeable to revenue account, taking one year with another.

• (2) Subject to subsection (3) below, it shall be the duty of the CAA—

• (a) in framing and carrying out proposals involving substantial outlay on capital account, and

• (b) in framing and carrying out proposals involving the taking on hire of any equipment the purchase of which at the time of taking on hire would involve such an outlay,

to act on lines settled from time to time with the approval of the Secretary of State; and it shall also be the duty of the CAA to secure that any subsidiary of the CAA acts on those lines in framing and carrying out either description of proposals.

• (3) Subsection (2)(b) above shall not apply to proposals by the CAA, or one of its subsidiaries, involving the taking on hire of equipment from a subsidiary or another of the subsidiaries of the CAA or from the CAA itself, as the case may be.

• (4) The Secretary of State may, with the approval of the Treasury, give the CAA a direction as to any matter relating to the establishment or management of reserves or the carrying of sums to the credit of any reserves or the application of any reserves for the purposes of the CAA.

9

• (1) In this Act “the initial debt” means the debt which was assumed by the CAA on 16th November 1973 under section 7 of the Civil Aviation Act 1971 as a debt to the Secretary of State and which was subsequently reduced under subsection (5) of that section to £27,073,104.

• (2) The rate of interest payable on the initial debt, the arrangements for paying off the principal and the other terms of the debt shall be such as the Secretary of State may from time to time determine with the approval of the Treasury.

• (3) Any sums received by the Secretary of State by way of interest on or repayment of the initial debt shall be paid into the National Loans Fund.

10

• (1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, the CAA shall have power to borrow such sums as it may require for performing its functions.

• (2) The CAA’s power to borrow sums in sterling otherwise than by way of temporary loan shall be limited to borrowing from the Secretary of State, or with the consent of the Secretary of State from the Commission of the European Communities or the European Investment Bank, any sums which the CAA may require for capital purposes or for fulfilling a guarantee entered into by the CAA.

• (3) Except as provided by subsection (2) above, the CAA may borrow any sums it has power to borrow under subsection (1) above from the Secretary of State or, with the consent of, or in accordance with a general authorisation given by, the Secretary of State, from any other person (and whether in sterling or in a currency other than sterling).

• (4) The Secretary of State shall not give any consent or authorisation for the purposes of subsection (2) or (3) above except with the approval of the Treasury.

• (5) A statement in writing by the Secretary of State to the effect that the approval of the Treasury has been given for any such consent or authorisation shall be conclusive evidence of that fact in any legal proceedings.

• (6) The aggregate amount outstanding in respect of the principal of any money borrowed by the CAA under this section and the initial debt shall not exceed £500 million or such greater sum not exceeding £750 million as may from time to time be specified by an order made by the Secretary of State; but no such order shall be made unless a draft of it has been laid before and approved by a resolution of the House of Commons.

• (7) In subsection (3) above the reference to a currency other than sterling includes a reference to units of account defined by reference to more than one currency.

11

• (1) The CAA may, ... make a scheme for determining the charges which are to be paid to the CAA in respect of the performance of such of its functions as are specified in the scheme; and a scheme under this section may as respects any of those functions—

• (a) specify the amount of the charge or a scale of charges by reference to which that amount is to be ascertained or provide that the charges shall be of such amount, not exceeding that specified in the scheme, as may be decided by the CAA, having regard to the expense incurred by the CAA in performing the function in question and to such other factors (if any) as may be so specified;

• (b) provide for different charges for cases of such different descriptions as may be so specified;

• (c) specify the manner in which, the time at which and the person by whom any charge is to be paid.

• (1A) Before making a scheme under this section, the CAA must—

• (a) consult the persons who, in its opinion, are likely to be affected by the scheme or such of those persons as it thinks fit, and

• (b) after consulting those persons, consult the Secretary of State.

• (2) A scheme under this section shall come into force on such day as may be specified in the scheme, not being earlier than the expiration of the period of 14 days beginning with the day on which the scheme is published in the prescribed manner; and a scheme made under this section may vary or revoke a previous scheme so made.

• (3) Regulations made by the Secretary of State may make provision for determining the charges which are to be paid to the CAA, or for securing that no charge is payable to the CAA, in respect of such of its functions as may be prescribed; and regulations for determining the said charges may—

• (a) prescribe the amount of a charge or the maximum or minimum amount of a charge or a scale of charges by reference to which those amounts are to be ascertained;

• (b) prescribe the manner in which, the time at which and the person by whom a charge is to be paid.

• (3A) Before making regulations under this section, the Secretary of State must consult the persons who, in the Secretary of State's opinion, are likely to be affected by the regulations or such of those persons as the Secretary of State thinks fit.

• (3B) Subsection (3A) does not apply if the Secretary of State is satisfied that such consultation is unnecessary having regard to consultation carried out by the CAA in accordance with subsection (1A).

• (4) In so far as a scheme and regulations under this section make different provision with respect to the same matter the provision made by the scheme shall be disregarded.

• (5) Where as respects any function of the CAA provision for a charge to be paid is made by virtue of this section it shall be the duty of the CAA to charge accordingly, except that it may, if it thinks fit to do so in a particular case, waive the whole or part of the charge.

• (6) Nothing in the preceding provisions of this section shall be construed as derogating from the power of the CAA to enter into an agreement for the payment to it of charges of such amounts as may be determined in pursuance of the agreement in respect of the performance by it of any of its functions, other than a function in respect of which provision is made in pursuance of those provisions for the making of a charge or of no charge.

• (7) Charges shall not be determined in pursuance of this section in respect of the provision of air navigation services; and provision shall not be made by or under an Air Navigation Order for the payment of fees to the CAA.

• (8) References in this section to functions of the CAA include functions conferred by or under Part 2 of the Aviation Security Act 1982 on authorised persons (as defined in that Part) to the extent that the functions are carried out by persons authorised by the CAA.