§ Sir Dudley Smithasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what criteria were used in deciding to provide five channels for other passport holders and two for combined United Kingdom and European Community passport holders at terminal 4 arrivals at Heathrow airport;
(2) if he will arrange to install a separate channel for United Kingdom residents at terminal 4 arrivals at Heathrow airport; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe clearance of British and Community passengers takes less time than the examination of those of other nationalities. The immigration arrivals control at terminal 4 has 28 desks, of which a maximum of 22 are used for the examination of passengers of other nationalities. There are four gates in front of these 22 desks from which passengers are presented to immigration officers.
This ratio of desks was decided on the information available to the Department on the probable proportion of passengers of different nationalities. The controls staffed flexibly and immigration officers can and do switch desks at the discretion of the chief immigration officer on duty with the objective of clearing all passengers in the quickest possible time.
The necessary signs for a separate channel for British passengers will be introduced at terminal 4, Heathrow. It would not be practical to allocate a separate channel to passengers of other nationalities who are resident in the United Kingdom.
§ Sir Dudley Smithasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures are followed at Heathrow airport when, due to serious flight delays, aircraft arrive at Heathrow airport late at night with large numbers of people seeking re-entry into Britain.
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§ Mr. WaddingtonThe normal deployment of staff at Heathrow is based on the scheduled times of arrival and departure of flights so that passengers can pass through the controls as rapidly as possible, and resources can be used to the best advantage. When flights are delayed late at night passengers are examined by staff allocated for night duty, augmented by staff on late shift remaining on duty and—or night duty staff from other terminals.
§ Sir Dudley Smithasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why, on 30 April at 10.30 pm, there were only two officers on duty at the passport desks for United Kingdom and European Community passport holders arriving at terminal 4 at Heathrow airport, with a crowd of over 500 people queueing to be admitted.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe late arrival of a flight from Paris at 9.50 pm on 30 April coincided with another flight from Paris, followed shortly after by a flight from New York. The number of officers available for the control was six. When the passengers arrived in the control hall one immigration officer was stationed at the British—European Community channel. The chief immigration officer on duty allocated a second and then a third officer to that channel when it was clear that the majority of passengers were British, or were Community nationals.