§ Mr. Jannerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is satisfied with the staffing levels of translators at each of the ports of entry; and whether he will make a statement.
321W
§ Mr. WaddingtonOn the whole the service offered by the full range of interpreters available to the immigration service is satisfactory but there will inevitably be times at some ports when the demand for their assistance exceeds their capacity to give it.
In recent weeks, the immigration service at terminal 3 has experienced difficulty in examining without delay non English-speaking passengers arriving from India, especially at weekends, in the afternoon and late evening. Part of this difficulty arises because flights on long-haul routes sometimes arrive late and staff rostered to deal with them have gone home. The immigration service is now considering how best to deal with that problem in order to maintain a fair, firm immigration control and at the same time to be able to give a reasonable service to the public. Casual interpreters are brought to the immigration office when circumstances require their presence in order to keep delays to a minimum, but it is not always possible to call them out late at night.