Appendix 7: Actions the Civil Aviation Authority will take
The Civil Aviation Authority's progress with improving certification and surveillance.
The Civil Aviation Authority provided us with the following list of actions it will take in response to the recommendations we have made in this report.
| Recommendation 1 | The CAA accepts this recommendation and will introduce improved measures of the quality and effectiveness of its certification and surveillance outputs in 2010/11. These measures are detailed in the 2010/13 SOI and will be introduced with effect from 1 July 2010 as performance standards for the relevant output class 2 activities in the 2010/11 year. Performance against the measures will be reported to the Audit and Risk Management Committee and will be subject to internal audit. The CAA also intends to conduct additional work on the development of measures to better assess the effectiveness of surveillance and certification in achieving its outcomes. Capability for this work will be sought as part of the current review of CAA funding. |
| Recommendation 2 | The CAA accepts this recommendation. The charter of the Board Audit and Risk Management Committee will be amended (by 3 August 2010) to make the oversight of such outputs a more explicit role of the Committee. Reporting requirements for the SOI output measures for certification and surveillance will be developed and the new reports submitted to the A&RM Committee for the first time at its meeting scheduled for 10 Dec 2010. Note that there is no A&RM committee meeting in November 2010 so the first meeting that the results of the first three month's monitoring can be reported to is in December. See also the response to recommendation 1. |
| Recommendation 3 | The CAA accepts and has implemented this recommendation. Following its own review of how effective the internal audit function was, the Board outsourced the role in July 2009. The Board has demanded, and is receiving, more rigorous performance of the role from an independent contractor. The quarterly meetings of the A&RM Committee are closely monitoring the effectiveness of the corrective action taken in response to internal audit findings by the operational groups. |
| Recommendation 5 | The CAA accepts this recommendation and work will be undertaken in the 2010/11 FY to design and implement appropriate indicators of the effectiveness of its regulatory focus on the civil aviation sector. In addition to that work it is noted that the consistency with which the CAA's regulatory focus is applied will be enhanced both by the recent creation of a Chief Operating Officer role which will drive more consistency across the operations of the CAA and the planned quarterly review process of Output Class 2 activities (see the response to recommendation 1 above). |
| Recommendation 6 | The CAA accepts this recommendation and current work on the development of a Regulatory Tools Policy will satisfy the intent of the recommendation. The policy is scheduled for completion on 1 September 2010. |
| Recommendation 7 | The CAA accepts this recommendation and work is already underway to address aspects of it. Subject to approval of the 2010/11 budget it is intended to appoint a data standards manager early in the FY. In addition, projects are currently underway to improve the data provided from safety investigations (due for completion 17 Dec 2010) and ‘Aviation Related Concerns' (ARCs) (due for completion 1 July 2010). It is also intended to seek the necessary resource to improve the CAA's data analysis capability as part of the current review of CAA funding. |
| Recommendation 8 | The CAA accepts this recommendation and a project is currently underway to improve the existing Performance Review and Development (PRD) process. The intent is to provide a more robust link to SOI objectives and ensure more consistency in the application of the system across the CAA. The new process will be implemented in time to set objectives for the 2010/11 year (end of July 2010). Required manager training and supervision will be provided within that timeframe. Leadership development will be provided for Executive Team members by the middle of August 2010. Objectives will be set and monitored as part of the PRD process to ensure required performance is delivered. |
| Recommendation 9 | The CAA accepts this recommendation. A project is currently underway to improve the Certification process and standardise its application. This work is scheduled for completion by 31 October 2010. Similar work will commence on the Surveillance process once the certification project is complete. The work on the surveillance process will commence in November 2010. Precursor work on the establishment of the project and programme management and training capability is currently underway. Similarly, the CAA Surveillance Policy is currently being reviewed. It is also noteworthy that the creation of a Chief Operating Officer role is intended, in part, to drive more consistency in the way in which certification and surveillance is performed across the organisation. |
| Recommendation 10 | The CAA accepts this recommendation. The Quarterly Review of Output Class 2 activities referred to in the comments against recommendation 1 above will play a significant part in ensuring required process is followed and objectives met. The output from the project currently improving the Performance Development Review system will more explicitly establish required competency and performance requirements for both managers and staff. The current Certification Improvement Project and subsequent Surveillance Improvement project will establish Quality Assurance and management review steps in the relevant processes. The creation of a Chief Operating Officer role will also drive more consistency of process and implementation across the CAA. |
| Recommendation 11 | The CAA accepts this recommendation. This requirement is an explicit element of the current Certification Improvement Project which is due for completion on 31 October 2010. The requirement will also be addressed in the subsequent Surveillance Improvement project. |
| Recommendation 12 | The CAA accepts this recommendation. This requirement is an explicit element of the current Certification Improvement Project due for completion on 31 October 2010. |
| Recommendation 13 | The CAA accepts this recommendation and the requirement to strengthen current training in this area will be an explicit element of the Surveillance Improvement Project which will start in November 2010. In addition, the introduction of a training and development capability which will facilitate such work is scheduled for 11 October 2010. |
| Recommendation 14 | The CAA accepts this recommendation and the requirement to strengthen current guidance in this area will be an explicit element of the Surveillance Improvement Project which will start in November 2010. In addition, the introduction of a training and development capability which will facilitate such work is scheduled for 11 October 2010. |