The government’s drones law could be out-of-date before it’s even been implemented

Rapid development of drone technology poses both great benefits and great threats to society – here in the UK, as well as abroad.

In recent years, the technology has characterised US military operations in the Middle East and was used in an assassination attempt on Venezuela’s president Maduro. Conversely, our emergency services are utilising drones to save lives, while Amazon and UPS are trialling services to deliver not only vital medical supplies but also day-to-day purchases.

The UK government, like others, is only beginning to take notice of how such technology will change our lives over time. In doing so, ministers have revealed just how ignorant they are of current technology, how the absence of regulation has helped facilitate chaos, and how ill-prepared they are for future developments – known and unknown alike.

The incident at Gatwick Airport in December 2018 shook the government. Theresa May, the then prime minister, convened a Cobra meeting, the Ministry of Defence called in the Army, and the Department for Transport lifted night-flying restrictions. In the month that followed, Chris Grayling, the hapless secretary of state, announced new legislation that would be sent through parliament. It seemed that they were finally waking up to the issue.

Attention, however, then turned elsewhere and it was soon a year before the bill was first debated. It transpired that much of the proposed legislation has been lurking in draft-form since 2017, and the government – unbelievably – had not bothered to check with anyone at Gatwick as to whether was still in date.

With the parliamentary process moving at a snail’s pace, we could be looking at this July or August before any Act comes in to force – by which time, it could be even less relevant. Meanwhile, the main legislation being used to tackle the dangers from drones is three decades old – the woeful Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990, which was agreed closer to Yuri Gagarin’s first trip into space than to today.

The Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill, now passing through the Lords, fails to take account of the dangers which could arise from those beyond visual line of sight – or indeed those operated from beyond UK shores. It offers no mechanism to be kept under review. Nor does it give any suggestion that the government has an eye on technological advancements.

Ministers must immediately take the initiative in two respects: First, to ensure the legislation is up to speed with existing risks by consulting all involved in the 2018 incident at Gatwick, as well as those that occurred last year at Heathrow and Leeds-Bradford. Learning lessons from those situations will hopefully ensure legislation can prevent the same mistakes being made. Second, to implement a mechanism for the constant review of the legislative framework around drones, keeping abreast of new technology and the dangers that might arise.

Both matters will be the subject of Labour Lords amendments, once we begin the detailed scrutiny of the bill next week.

The UK has already fallen way behind other countries. Ireland introduced registration coupled with extensive regulation in 2015 – four years before we caught on. Canada is now beginning a licensing system, requiring operators to sit an online knowledge exam. We should not risk falling behind further.

The government has so far been lucky that an incident on the same scale as the one at Gatwick incident has not happened again. But Ministers should get their act together now to understand current concerns and also anticipate the types of problems that might in future find our emergency services behind the curve.

Lord Richard Rosser is a shadow transport minister in the House of Lords