Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of (1) the increase of the use of drones by law enforcement agencies in England and Wales in the last four years, and (2) the reasons for any variation between police forces in their reliance on drones.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office does not currently have any plans to update legislation on the use of drones by law enforcement agencies. The use of drones by law enforcement agencies is guided by regulations set by the Civil Aviation Authority and the use of surveillance cameras by police is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (2018) and the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice (2013).
The use of drones is an operational decision for individual police forces who deploy drones based on their operational needs. The Home Office does not gather any data on the use of drones by law enforcement agencies.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to update legislation covering the use of drones by law enforcement agencies (1) to incorporate provisions for transparency, and (2) to allow the development of guidance.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office does not currently have any plans to update legislation on the use of drones by law enforcement agencies. The use of drones by law enforcement agencies is guided by regulations set by the Civil Aviation Authority and the use of surveillance cameras by police is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (2018) and the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice (2013).
The use of drones is an operational decision for individual police forces who deploy drones based on their operational needs. The Home Office does not gather any data on the use of drones by law enforcement agencies.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government at what stage of development is the Electronic Travel Authorisation system; and when they intend the system to come into use.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme requires primary legislation. It will be developed for delivery as part of the wider multi-year programme of change to the UK’s Points-Based Border and Immigration system.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the errors made by the Home Office in the case of Saiful Islam, originally from Bangladesh and now living in Cardiff; whether they still intend to deport him; and what steps they intend to take to ensure that such errors do not occur in future in relation to other cases.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
All applications are considered on their individual merits, on the basis of the evidence provided and in accordance with the immigration rules. Since Mr Islam’s case came to light, we have apologised to him for the errors made in relation to criminality checks, and rolled-out a new training package for all staff entitled ‘Data Protection in the Home Office.
Although not in direct response to Mr Islam’s case in particular, this training course aims to enhance data protection awareness and understanding throughout the Home Office workforce.
Mr Islam is not subject to removal action at present.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the security impact of adding passengers from seven additional countries to the list of those able to use automated ePassport gates on arrival in the UK; what impact they anticipate these changes will have on waiting times for passengers at Heathrow Terminals 3 and 5; and what impact they anticipate abolishing paper landing cards will have on border security.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Keeping the UK’s border secure is our priority. The decisions to expand ePassport gate eligibility and remove the requirement to complete a landing card were taken after careful consideration and in consultation with security partners across Government.
Landing cards were primarily used to collect statistics and not used for routine security checks. The Government remains reassured, on the basis of direct expert engagement, that this change will not impact on border security. The additional nationalities that can now benefit from use of the ePassport gates were identified as suitable based on a variety of factors, including immigration abuse, security, cooperation on border matters and prosperity.
Analysis has shown that allowing these additional nationalities to use the ePassport gates provides them with more efficient entry into the UK, whilst not significantly increasing waiting times for existing ePassport gate users. The change will also significantly improve manned queue times, at certain ports and at certain times for other passengers.
Both changes are being closely monitored to ensure that we understand and can adapt to any impact they may have, including on queue times.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the causes of long queues at border control in British airports; what assessment they have made of the impact of those queues on the tourism industry; and what action they intend to take to alleviate such queues.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The number of visitors to the UK continues to grow, with record levels of visitors in 2017. We recognise the importance of the experience at the border for visitors and every effort is made to keep delays at the border to a minimum while always maintaining the security of the UK Border.
Border Force is taking a number of steps to ensure passengers pass through the border as quickly as possible, including through investment in technology and increasing the availability of staff at the busiest times of the day.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the target waiting times for (1) British and other EEA passengers, and (2) other passengers, at border control in British airports; and what percentage of passengers have waited longer than the target time at (a) Heathrow, and (b) Gatwick, in the first five months of 2018 compared with the same months in 2017.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Border Force service standards are that 95% of British and other European Economic Area (EEA) passengers, from the point they join an immigration queue, are seen by an officer or arrive at an automatic passport gate within 25 minutes. For non-EEA passengers, the service standard is that 95% of passengers are seen by an officer within 45 minutes.
We do not publish data on performance at individual ports. Published data on the clearance of passengers at the border can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/border-force-transparency-data-may-2018.
Data relating to Border Force activity at Heathrow is published on the Heathrow Airport website at https://www.heathrow.com/company/company-news-and-information/performance/airport-operations/border-force
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Bates on 28 January (HL Deb, col 1408), when Cardiff Council last inspected Lynx House; whether a written report was produced; and whether asylum seekers were required to wear red wristbands at the time of that inspection.
Answered by Lord Bates
Cardiff Council Environmental Health officers conducted a routine check of food hygiene matters on 26th January 2016.
Cardiff Council Housing Enforcement officers also inspected Lynx House premises on 2nd February 2016. We understand that a report will be produced and shared with both the accommodation provider and the Home Office in due course. Home Office can confirm that the requirement for asylum seekers accommodated in Lynx House to wear wristbands in order to access meals ended on 25 January.