Written question asked by Humfrey Malins (Conservative) on Wednesday, 3 December 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 16 December 2003. It was answered by Baroness Hughes of Stretford (Labour) on Tuesday, 16 December 2003 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of (a) lorries and (b) other vehicles passing through Calais and Coquelles en route to the UK were not checked for purposes of seeking to discover illegal immigrants over the last 12 months. - Including figures.

Answer: Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of (a) lorries and (b) other vehicles passing through Calais and Coquelles en route to the UK were not checked for purposes of seeking to discover illegal immigrants over the last 12 months. [142168] Beverley Hughes: The Calais port operator (Calais Chamber of Commerce) check 100 per cent of freight vehicles passing through Calais (approximately 2,500 per day) either by Passive Millimetric Wave Imagers (PMMWs), carbon dioxide or heartbeat detectors. Additional checks are also carried out by ferry operators and French customs. All other vehicles such as private cars and vans are systematically checked by the ferry operator before boarding. We are unable to say what proportion of vehicles (approximately 2,000 per day) are checked by Euro- tunnel at Coquelles prior to boarding. Immigration Service search teams exercising their powers under the Immigration Act currently carry out targeted and intelligence-led searches of UK bound freight and other vehicles within the British Control Zone at Coquelles.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 415 c864-5W; 142168
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: High Speed 1 line Immigration controls Ferries Undocumented migrants Large goods vehicles France Vehicles
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk