§ Lord PONSONBY of SHULBREDEasked Her Majesty's Government:
1358WAWhy no contribution is made by the customs and immigration services to the costs of providing "airside" security at British Airports Authority airports, and whether the benefits of such security measures to each service should not be reflected by such a contribution.
§ Lord COCKFIELDSecurity arrangements at airports are required for operational and commercial reasons and for discharge of the airline and airport operators' responsibilities for anti-terrorist measures under the Protection of Aircraft Act 1973.
Customs and immigration controls are integrated with these arrangements to the greatest extent possible and the costs involved in applying these controls are borne by the department concerned. Any contribution to what are essentially airport operational costs would be an unjustifiable charge on the taxpayer at large.