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Armed Forces Bill

moved Amendment No. 58: Page 15, line 25, at end insert ““and authorised for the specific flight”” The noble Lord said: My amendment deals with Clause 34 on low flying, and in particular with the definition of ““minimum height””, below which an offence is committed. In subsection (3), the minimum height is the height prescribed by regulations made by the Defence Council. In practice, when authorising each flight, the minimum height for the operation will be written in by the officer authorising the flight. That minimum height may well be higher than the minimum height prescribed by regulations, taking into account the conditions, the need for the operational or training requirement, the weather, and a whole range of other factors. If we are trying to have an offence that wraps up low flying, it might be worth considering ensuring—I shall be interested to hear the Minister’s thinking about this—that it embraces whatever the authorised height is, which may often be higher than the minimum height. I beg to move.