2 Exit checks
32. In our last report, we commented on the Government's
progress towards delivering on its pledge to deliver 100% exit
checks by 31 March 2015. Data on air passengers is generally good.
However, data is not so good for rail and ferry passengers, partly
because of the ticketing systems and partly because customers
can decide to travel, buy a ticket and check in very near to departure.
Each year, 10 million passengers travel through Eurotunnel on
the Shuttle, 10 million passengers via Eurostar, and 12-13 million
people on ferries through Dover.[57]
Few of these passengers undergo exit checks.
33. Both Sir Charles Montgomery, Director General
of Border Force, and James Brokenshire MP, Minister for Immigration
and Security, have told this Committee that the pledge would be
met. In November, Mr Brokenshire said that the Home Office was
working with Eurotunnel, Dover Harbour Board, and transport operators
at Dover, to deliver the objective of exit checks by 31 March
2015 and ensure:
We have an effective mechanism in place that
gives us the advance passenger information or gives us the passport
details that are taken at point of exit, to be able to provide
us with better information on who is leaving the country, to inform
our work around over-stayers and elsewhere.[58]
On 10 February, the Minister repeated his assertion
that the pledge would be met, but one week late, and with caveats.
He said:
We are, as the programme is moving forward, seeking
to take 100% of those within the scope of the programme. The reason
I frame it in those terms is that there are certain exceptions.
It does not cover, for example, the common travel area. […]
We remain confident that we will be delivering exit checks on
8 April.[59]
34. The focus has always been on commercial traffic,
because the overwhelming majority of travellers choose to come
and go using commercial transport. The slippage of the date when
the system goes live, by a few days, is a sensible move which
will avoid the new system being activated just before the busy
Easter weekend.[60] However,
the caveat that the Government now intends to deliver 100% exit
checks only for "those within the scope of the programme"
is rather more concerning. It means that passengers travelling
to the Republic of Ireland, and movements involving non-commercial
aviation and maritime traffic, will not be covered by exit checks.
The Financial Times reported an interview with James Brokenshire
which suggested exit checks would not apply to EU migrants.[61]
By confining the scope of the programme, the Government has introduced
a grey area around which travellers might not be caught by exit
checks. The Government must provide this Committee, no later
than 27 March 2015, an exhaustive list of those categories of
travel which will be including within the scope of 100% exit checks
and of those which will not. The Government should also provide
an estimate of the percentage of all travellers who will and will
not fall within the scope of the programme.
Exit checks for rail and maritime
travellers
35. At the moment, the percentage of the millions
who pass through Eurotunnel who are subject to exit checks is
0%. On 8 April, this is expected to increase to 100%.[62]
The transport carriers, whose staff would be carrying out the
exit checks, told us that they had concerns about the way exit
checks were being introduced, the lack of time given to prepare,
how the checks would be supervised, what roles and powers their
staff would have, what equipment would be needed, what data they
would collect and where it would be sent. They would trial possible
systems in November 2014. We asked the private transport companies
about the level of co-operation they had received from the Home
Office and the UK Border Force, the lessons learned from the trials,
and if their concerns about the implementation of exit checks
had been met. We received a letter from John Keefe, Eurotunnel,
on 6 March and from Tim Reardon, UK Chamber of Shipping, on 3
March 2015.
36. Tim Reardon told us that the trials had been
carried out by the three ferry operators which use Dover. They
compared the time duration for a normal check-in process as carried
out at present, the duration of a check-in that included swiping
the passports of the occupants of the vehicle, and the duration
of a check-in that included swiping the passports of the occupants
of the vehicle and a visual check that the occupants matched the
passports.[63]
37. Exit checks in the trials almost doubled the
time for the average car check-in. With lorries, the exit check
almost trebled the average time for check in at one ferry company
(unfortunately, the ferry company that carries the most freight
traffic). Computer modelling of the process suggests that there
will be significant queues on days when overall car numbers exceed
7,500, which happened on 25 days in 2013, and 21 days in 2014.
Exit checks on the busiest day of 2014 would have created a queue
of vehicles over 8.5km long. As of 3 March, discussions as to
how to manage such queues were unresolved. In his letter of 6
March, John Keefe, Director General, Eurotunnel, said:
Our principal concern in this market is the likelihood
of significant delays occurring on peak holiday departure days
when traffic is heavy, shuttle load factors are high and cars
carry 5-7 people per vehicle.[64]
He also raised concerns about implementing 100% checks
on lorry drivers and freight traffic:
Forecasts show an increase of 30% in traffic
over the coming 5 years. Manual exit checks will not be able to
cope with the increased levels of traffic and congestion is likely
38. On 10 February, Sir Charles told us that they
had been testing the mobile and static operator systems, to ensure
the systems the transport companies used would be compatible with
those of Border Force.[65]
As of 3 March, Tim Reardon pointed out that the written outline
for the exit checks scheme was received on 29 August 2014, but
the technical specification to enable development of the exit
checks software with their existing systems was not received before
19 December 2014. This is three months before the system has to
be working and one month after the trials had been completed.
Coach travel
39. On 10 February 2015, we were told that there
will be an exception for coach parties of children aged under
16.[66] We have not been
told of any other exceptions. Coach travel represents an area
of concern for the transport carriers. A lorry generally has one
or two passengers. A car may have four or five. A coach could
contain 50 plus individuals, all over the age of 16 and all travelling
independently. When asked about what to do with such coaches,
Sir Charles said:
The coach sector is the most difficult of all
logistically. That has been the focus of trials and tests at each
of the major ports that operate coach travel. The trials are still
underway. They are continuing to refine and change practice to
make sure that the regime works as smoothly as possible. I am
confident we will have a solution come the go live date.[67]
Sir Charles's confidence was not shared by the Chamber
of Shipping. Tim Reardon told us that
No practicable process has been identified for
conducting an exit check on coach passengers at the port.
John Keefe, Eurotunnel, said:
For coach passengers (60 per vehicle), there
is still no clear solution
Furthermore, Eurotunnel said that the Home Office
have left them to find a solution, which will involve getting
all coach passengers to disembark, be checked, then get back on
board, which:
For a transport system that relies on fluidity,
this will cause significant delays to each coach movement and
therefore carries a heavy risk of knock on delays elsewhere in
the system.
Mr Reardon noted that coach traffic was not part
of the trials in November (because there was no process to be
trialled), and ferry operators are unaware of any of the trials
relating to coach traffic of which Sir Charles had told the Committee.[68]
40. The UK Chamber of Shipping argue that exit checks
on coach passengers would be better sourced from the coach operators
who already have the passenger list. On the face of it, this looks
feasible, but Mr Reardon told us that, in view of the opaqueness
of the Home Office planning process, it was impossible to make
any informed comment other than that it was unsatisfactory for
this work to have been left so late. He added that:
The impossibility of performing an exit check
on coaches at check-in at Dover has been obvious, and known to
the Home Office, since the outset.[69]
41. Both UK Chamber of Shipping and Eurotunnel have
made it clear that they believe responsibility for any problems
that result from the introduction of exit checks in early April
should lie with the Home Office. Tim Reardon said:
It has separately advised ferry operators to
tell any passenger who queries the exit check that they are carrying
it out as part of their business process, a response which would
be untruthful as exit checks are being carried out purely at the
Home Office's behest.
And John Keefe said:
Beyond 8 April, Eurotunnel will no longer be
able to mitigate the impact and will be dependent on the Home
Office to ensure that Exit Checks do not create delays to travel
and trade across the channel.[70]
42. The Coalition Agreement said "We support
E-borders and will reintroduce exit checks." We have been
told several times by the Government that it will deliver 100%
exit checks for all passengers leaving the UK by the end of March
2015. However, as of February 2015, a number of significant exclusions
have crept into this pledge, excluding those travelling within
the common travel area with the Republic of Ireland, and under-16s
travelling by coach.
43. It is becoming obvious that the Home Office
cannot guarantee exit checks will be in place on 8 April 2015.
Logistical problems remain around how to inspect passports for
fifty individuals in a coach, who cannot be seen from the check-in
booth. This has been known from the start. It is not clear if
the systems that collect the passport data will be compatible
with the ferry companies' existing systems. The Home Office is
faced with a decision whether to push the date back further and
allow for effective preparation, admit there are problems in some
transport, such as coaches, which could involve introducing exit
checks gradually, or assert that nothing is wrong and carry on
as normal.
44. We would not be surprised if further forms
of travel or categories of passenger were declared out-of-scope
to allow for exit checks to be declared a success. We recommend
that the Government publish a single, definitive document listing
what is in scope and what is out of scope of the exit checks scheme.
45. In our previous report on the work of the
Immigration Directorates we warned that, if implemented wrongly,
there was a chance that exit checks could introduce delays and
queues, that these will be highly visible and could have a serious
impact on UK business, trade and tourism. There has been plenty
of time to discuss how exit checks would be implemented. The responsibility
for making sure that exit checks are introduced without any problems
lies with the Home Office.
57 Home Affairs Committee, The work of the Immigration
Directorates (Jan-June 2014), Qq54-63 [18 November 2014] Back
58
Home Affairs Committee, The work of the Immigration Directorates
(Jan-June 2014), Q204 [18 November 2014] Back
59
Qq67-69 [10 February 2015] Back
60
Home Affairs Committee, The work of the Border Force, Qq98-101
[10 February 2015] Back
61
Focus shifts to visa exit checks, Financial Times, 24 November
2014 Back
62
Qq73-77 [10 February 2015] Back
63
Letter from UK Chamber of Shipping to Keith Vaz, 3 March 2015 Back
64
Letter from Eurotunnel to Keith Vaz, 6 March 2015 Back
65
Home Affairs Committee, The work of the Border Force, Q99 [10 February 2015] Back
66
Home Affairs Committee, The work of the Border Force, Q93 [10 February 2015] Back
67
Home Affairs Committee, The work of the Border Force, Q103 [10 February 2015] Back
68
Letter from UK Chamber of Shipping to Keith Vaz, 3 March 2015 Back
69
Letter from UK Chamber of Shipping to Keith Vaz, 3 March 2015 Back
70
Letter from Eurotunnel to Keith Vaz, 6 March 2015 Back
|
