Counter-Terrorism Measures in British Airports - Home Affairs Committee Contents


4  The Government's Response

39. The threat of terrorist attacks against airports and airplanes, as we noted earlier, is very real and ongoing. We therefore welcome the steps announced in the aftermath of the attempted attack of 25 December and urge the Government to speed up the roll-out of body scanners, and, particularly, Explosive Trace Detection equipment. We are confident that both of these devices and the other announced measures will form a better, "multi-layered" security regime. However, while we are confident that the measures to be implemented will be an improvement on current security levels, we suggest that the Government could go further in strengthening the security process.

40. The Home Office, through the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, is responsible for "exercising the UK's response to the terrorist threat".[59] Given this, we were surprised that the Department for Transport, through Transec, remain the "lead department for all transport security issues", including the introduction of tougher security measures inside British airports in the aftermath of an attempted terrorist attack.[60] In contrast, security measures to be implemented outside airports (such as watchlists) are the responsibility of the Home Office. Airport security should not be viewed as something which occurs purely once a passenger steps into an airport terminal, but should begin the moment that a ticket is booked. In this context, the demarcation between transport security ("Transec") based in the Department for Transport and wider counter-terrorism activity, centred in the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, based in the Home Office is unhelpful. We do not understand why transport security remains institutionally separate from wider counter-terrorism work and intelligence-gathering, and we cannot see the benefits of this separation of responsibility. Close collaboration between Government departments is a poor substitute for centralising policy and control under one roof. We recommend that Transec becomes the responsibility of the Home Office under the auspices of the OSCT.


59   OSCT Website: http://security.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/about-the-directorate/index.html  Back

60   Ev 17 Back


 
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