§ Mr. MalinsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to reinstate immigration offices at airports to check the documentation of outgoing passengers; and if he will make a statement. [79290]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe previous Administration had already removed, in 1994, embarkation controls for passengers travelling from ferry ports and small airports to destinations within the European Union/European Economic Area, with the consequence that some 40 per cent. of all departing passengers were not seen by an immigration officer. There has never been an embarkation control for Channel Tunnel services.
What was left of the control was, therefore, ineffective in terms of providing a reliable immigration record of a person's departure, and we have since introduced new arrangements following my announcement on 16 March 1998. The new system involves a close partnership between the control authorities and port operators, and is based on intelligence and target led embarkation checks, including the increased use of Closed Circuit Television.
Resources previously engaged in operating embarkation checks have been re-deployed to improve arrivals control. There are no plans to reinstate routine embarkation controls, although immigration officers will continue to retain their powers to examine departing passengers if circumstances require.
538W
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the number of non-immigration offences detected as a result of questioning by an immigration officer in the course of dealing with a person seeking leave to enter at a port of entry. [78642]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienWhen an Immigration Officer discovers evidence of a non immigration offence during the course of an examination, the matter is referred to the appropriate authority (e.g. Her Majesty's Customs and Excise or the Police). This is reflected in the standing instructions to the Immigration Service. No separate assessment of the number of such references, or their outcome, has been made.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions immigration officers exercised their powers to require the captains of ships or aircraft arriving in the United Kingdom to furnish information under the provisions of paragraph 27(2) of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971. [78672]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienIt is common practice for immigration officers to use these powers in the general administration of the immigration control and to meet the requirements of the Immigration Carriers Liability Act. No separate record of the number of such requests has been made.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were examined by(a) an immigration officer and (b) a medical inspector or other qualified person under the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of Schedule 2 of the Immigration Act 1971 in the most recent year for which figures are available. [78654]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienAll passengers seeking to enter the United Kingdom are subject to examination by an immigration officer, under paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 2, in order to establish their claim to admission. In 1998, this amounted to some 84 million passengers, including British citizens and other European Economic Area nationals.
No central record is kept of the number of passengers examined by a medical inspector under paragraph 2(2).
There has been no comprehensive embarkation control for examinations under paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 at cross-Channel ports since 1994 and at all other ports since April 1998.