Border inquiry slows e-gates plan

EFFORTS to clear immigration queues at Heathrow airport ahead of the Olympics have been put at risk by an investigation into the turmoil in autumn at the UK Border Agency when it was discovered that border controls were relaxed at UK ports during the summer period. Over the past few months BAA, Heathrow’s owner, has spent £8m installing infrastructure at all five terminals that would allow registered non-European Union nationals to pass electronic immigration controls. But the so-called ‘e-gates’ plan cannot go ahead until the border agency has taken final steps to get the system working, including having a database of travellers who are signed up to it.

 “We could be ready [in time for the Olympics] but this is entirely within the hands of government and what their strategy is, is unclear,” John Holland-Kaye, BAA’s commercial director, told the Financial Times. Decisions are being delayed until the results of an inquiry into the relaxation of border controls at UK ports during the busy summer period that saw Brodie Clark, head of the UK Border Force, a subdivision of the border agency, resign in the wake of the scandal after being blamed by Theresa May, home secretary, for making unauthorised short cuts to the control procedures.

“UKBA . . . has been working to bring these new gates online but has paused this process while it completes internal investigations following the departure of Brodie Clark,” BAA said. According to the report in the Financial Times the e-gates system is the successor to Iris, a programme running since 2005 that uses iris-scanning technology to speed registered non-European travellers through immigration. The border agency began phasing it out after deciding instead to rely on fingerprints and photographs rather than eye scans.  The agency refused to comment on the progress of e-gates or why it had been delayed.

While the investigation is ongoing and no reports have been made public yet, Holland-Kaye acknowledged that there had been a positive “change of tone in the management team” at the agency since the chief executive took over last year. He also said some improvements had been made for passengers, such as constant manning of e-gates for EU nationals. However, non-Europeans still face queues of two or three hours at peak times. Heathrow expects a 45 per cent increase in passengers on peak days of the games. BAA had hoped to recoup the cost of the e-gates by charging a membership fee – as levied in countries such as Holland, the US and Canada – but is now planning to offer the programme free of charge to get it set up faster.