Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Dan Jarvis (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 May 2024, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 17 May 2024 (named day). It was answered by Tom Pursglove (Conservative) on Monday, 20 May 2024 on behalf of the Home Office.

Immigration Controls: ICT

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Minister for Legal Migration and the Border's Oral Statement of 8 May 2024 on Passport e-Gates Network Outage, Official Report, column 592, if he will publish a report of the investigations into the failure of passport e-gates on 7 May 2024.

Answer

It has never been Government practice, for reasons of law enforcement, to comment on operational issues relating to border security and immigration controls. This includes offering commentary on the performance of border systems and of ePassport Gates data specifically.

The Home Office has a number of contingency arrangements in the event of a system failure, including technical and business contingency measures.

In the UK, all arriving passengers need to establish their eligibility for admission. Every passenger is required to establish their nationality and identity. To maintain a safe and secure border, a passenger’s passport or national identity card is checked electronically. The eGates and face-to-face checks are two methods of conducting the same process.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
26166
Session
2023-24
Subjects
ICT Immigration controls Passports Standards
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk