UK Airports: Immigration Services (Hansard, 27 October 1994)

§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Blatch)
My Lords, the Government's policy is to maintain the continued presence of immigration officers at ports of entry where this is justified.

§ Lord Geddes
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that reply. Before asking my supplementary perhaps I may declare an interest as a director of the company which owns Biggin Hill airport. Is my noble friend aware that there are 34 airports designated for customs and excise purposes as places for landing and departure whereas only 22 of those 34 are designated as ports of entry? Can my noble friend advise the House as to why there is that discrepancy? Is she aware that at the 12 intermediate airports which are one thing but not the other, customs and excise have for many years and under licence been doing the job of immigration officers for them, but that now, with the advent of the single market, those customs facilities are being withdrawn, thereby leaving the 12 airports with very little, possibly no, immigration cover? Is that not in contradiction of the Government's policy of promoting business at, and for, regional airports?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, it is unfortunate that the word "Customs" has been removed from the question. Otherwise, I think it might have been appropriate to discuss the criteria for customs officials and those for immigration officials. It is true that the customs officials at Biggin Hill did carry out the duties of immigration officials and that the temporary difficulty that has been caused is the removal of the customs official and thereby the services provided for immigration. Since then, temporary arrangements have been made, and indeed extended until 30th November, so that two immigration officials will continue to perform that duty. In the meantime, there is to be an assessment of the need for immigration services at Biggin Hill. When that assessment is complete, a judgment will be made as to whether there should be any or no immigration officials permanently present at Biggin Hill.

§ Lord Williams of Elvel
My Lords, is the noble Baroness aware that it comes as something of a surprise to learn that customs officials have been doing immigration work? At how many airports—ports of entry—is it the case that customs officers, who are trained to perform one kind of job, are doing immigration work?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, I hope that noble Lords will agree that it makes very good sense and is a very good use of an official's time if he can fulfil two duties which are very similar in nature in terms of the kinds of questions people are asked as they enter the country. That is not to say that both those functions are not distinct and separate. It has been a convention that has 637 lasted for a very long time in this country. Views are taken about the volume of traffic in and out of our ports, but we have retained the right to control both the entry of goods and services and of EC nationals travelling between member states.

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, is it still the policy of the Department of Transport that business aviation should be encouraged to use the smaller airports around London and so relieve the large airports? If that is the case, will my noble friend discuss with the Minister responsible for aviation any possible removal of immigration officers at those small airports which, so far as I can see, could drive a coach and horses through the policy I have described?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, my noble friend makes an important point. Officials of my department are discussing with officials of the Department of Transport this very sensitive issue and will continue to do so. I hope that nothing we do will inhibit the growth and development of regional airports. My noble friend is right to remind me of that. Where there are no immigration officials present at an airport, arrangements are in place that can be worked by fax. Some of those arrangements work very well. If an immigration official is required he can come from a nearby airport. In most cases that arrangement works very well.

§ Lord Avebury
My Lords, when will the final decision be taken as to whether to have permanent immigration officials at Biggin Hill? Will the noble Baroness bear in mind that even if there is not sufficient traffic at present to justify staff being located at the airfield on a permanent basis, any growth in business traffic in the future may make it worth while? Meanwhile, would it not be possible quite easily to make staff available from Gatwick?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, that is precisely what has happened. Staff from Gatwick are present now at that airport fulfilling those duties. It is a temporary arrangement. Meanwhile an assessment is taking place as to the future needs of the airport. Clearly, if the volume of activity at the airport grows, it may well become a candidate to become a designated airport.

§ Lord Orr-Ewing
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that there are reports on good authority of no fewer than 2 million illegal immigrants now in the London area? What are we doing to catch up on that problem?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, that is rather wide of the Question, but it is important in relation to it. We are doing a great deal to fulfil all the powers we have under the law to control illegal immigration.

§ Lord Stoddart of Swindon
My Lords, is the Minister aware that her announcement—I suppose it is an announcement—that customs officers will be carrying out the work of immigration officers is bound to cause a great deal of concern to many people? Will she agree that the two jobs are quite different? One is about goods and perhaps finding smugglers; the other is about interviewing people who probably have a 638 legitimate right to enter this country. Can she say whether customs officers are given additional training before they are allocated to interviewing immigrants?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, I did not make an announcement. I was describing what has been going on in this country for years. All I am saying is that since amendment of Article 7a of the European treaty, it has been deemed not so necessary to have so many customs officers. Therefore, where they have been removed — as, indeed, at Biggin Hill—that part of their job which involved checking the same people coming through the airports for immigration purposes as well as for customs purposes has caused us to re-think how we fulfil immigration duties at those airports.

§ Lord Williams of Elvel
My Lords, can the noble Baroness answer the second part of my noble friend's supplementary question? Are customs officers who also perform the duty of immigration officers properly trained in the immigration rules of this country?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, I am sure that they are. If one is concerned as much with outputs as with inputs, I can only say that they have performed those: duties extraordinarily well for a very long time.

Noble Lords
Next Question! Order.

The Lord Privy Seal (Viscount Cranborne)
My Lords, I have a feeling that it may be the sense of the House that the time has come to fit in two more Questions.