§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what latest estimate he has made of the cost of introducing and maintaining a system of counting visitors in and out of the UK; and if he will make a statement. [90697]
§ Beverley HughesA precise figure is not available, but the cost of recording electronically the admissions and departures of all non-EEA nationals is provisionally estimated to be around £20 million a year. This estimate includes the costs of reintroducing fully staffed embarkation controls, which were withdrawn for passengers travelling to European Union destinations from ferry ports and small airports in 1994 and reconfigured at major airports in 1998.