Investigation under Section 34 of the Transport Act 2000: Project Palamon (October 2018)
We have opened an investigation (project Palamon) under section 34 of the Transport Act 2000 (TA00) to consider alleged contraventions by a licence holder of certain statutory duties under sections 8(1)(c) and 8(1)(d) of the TA00 and certain licence conditions.
At this stage, no assumption should be made about whether there has been any contravention.
Indicative Timetable
19 December 2019
|
Indicative Date
|
Action
|
| 7 September 2018 |
Receipt of a complaint from an interested party |
| 22 October 2018 |
Investigation opened, and informal process adopted. Parties notified. |
November to January
2018 |
Invite comments from parties on the scope of the investigation.
Consult on draft first information requests
Agree terms of Eurocontrol's support to the investigation under Support to States Policy
|
| 14 January 2019 |
Receipt of a complaint from a second interested party |
| |
| January 2019 |
Issue final first information requests |
| 11 February 2019 |
Incorporate second interested party's complaint into investigation, and confirm scope of investigation |
| January and February 2019 |
Receive information from parties |
| February to April 2019 |
Analyse information and receive draft report from Eurocontrol |
| March to April 2019 |
Consider whether a further round of information requests or an interim round of consultation on the Eurocontrol's findings are required or whether to progress to the CAA's draft report. |
| May 2019 |
State of play meetings with the parties to share emerging thinking |
| May & June 2019 |
Consider comments on Draft Eurocontrol report |
| June & July 2019 |
Request further information from the parties |
| July 2019 |
Send parties the Revised Eurocontrol report |
| July 2019 |
Receive comments on Revised Eurocontrol report |
| August / September 2019 |
Consider parties' comments on Revised Eurocontrol report
Receive additional information from parties
|
| October / November 2019 |
Continue to analyse information received |
| November 2019 |
Place unredacted Oberon Report into Palamon confidentiality ring |
| December 2019 |
Prepare draft decision |
|
2020
|
|
| March 2020 |
Place draft decision and supporting docs into Palamon confidentiality ring and request redactions from parties to evidence and supporting documents |
| April 2020 |
Share redacted decision with parties |
| May 2020 |
We will decide on next steps once we have the parties' response to the draft decision |
Notices to NATS (EN Route) plc under section 22(11) of the Transport Act 2000 (September 2018 and November 2019)
In July 2018, NERL submitted regulatory accounts with an audit report that did not comply with Condition 6 of its licence. Changes to audit guidance issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales have meant that auditors are no longer able to express an opinion that meets the requirement under the Condition. NERL has informed the CAA that it will work with the CAA to modify Condition 6 such that a satisfactory audit report can be obtained. Condition 6 has now been modified. However, before that occurred, NERL submitted regulatory accounts that did not comply with Condition 6 of its licence in June 2019.
NATS (En Route) plc Condition 16 Code of practice (December 2016)
Investigation under Section 34 of the Transport Act 2000: Project Oberon
The CAA investigated an alleged breach of licence conditions by NERL's regarding its operation of the London Approach Service
The CAA found that while flight delays increased in 2016, it did not fail to take all reasonable steps to meet demand or discriminate against any party in delivering the London Approach Service. The CAA has made a number of recommendations to NERL to ensure it improves its contingency planning and the resilience of its operations in the future, and will monitor NERL's implementation and the effectiveness of the recommendations going forward.
Project Oberon recommended that we publish data to provide increased transparency on London Approach service quality. Three Oberon Report Indicators are included: NERL Attributable Delays by London Approach Function; NERL Average Delays per Arrival by London Approach Function; and All NERL Attributable Delays per Arrival into London Airports. We are publishing such data each quarter.
Starting with the indicators to June 2018, the format of the report has changed. As well as graphs and data showing delay attributable to NERL's London Approach service, the report also includes graphs and data showing all delay (including non-NERL attributable delay) for each of the London Approach airports. The report is produced by NERL using data and commentary provided by NERL.