Written question asked by Philip Davies (Conservative) on Tuesday, 10 June 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 12 June 2008. It was answered by Liam Byrne (Labour) on Monday, 21 July 2008 on behalf of the Home Office.

Borders: Personal Records

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the net financial effect of the e-borders programme on the aviation industry.

Answer: It has been estimated that the capital investment required over 10 years is in the region of £52 million (of which £32 million falls to UK based carriers). The total running costs over the same period are projected to be an estimated £278 million (of which £171 million falls to UK carriers). These estimates have been based upon figures provided by carriers and the assessment of Project Semaphore.The potential financial costs to the aviation industry of implementing the data collection requirements of the e-Borders programme have been analysed as part of a regulatory impact assessment, connected with the laying of secondary legislation to permit data collection and sharing by the border agencies. The regulatory impact assessment can be found at:"http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/eBorders-RIA-2008-01-10?view=Binary"There will be a potential benefit to carriers with reduction in carriers liability (CL) and removals costs. The ability of carriers to provide evidence that passengers appeared properly documented at the start of their journey will help them avoid the imposition of a CL charge. This would, in turn, reduce the incidence of detention and removal costs for carriers.

Secondary information