Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2018 to Question 157630 on UK Border Force: Heathrow Airport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that UK Border Force has the capacity deal with the forecast increase in the number of passengers in the summer.

Border Force is taking a number of steps to ensure passengers are dealt with quickly, including through investment in technology and maximising available staff at the busiest times of the day.

Border Force is committed to providing an excellent service. During the first quarter of 2018, over 95% of passengers seeking entry to the UK at Heathrow were dealt with within the service level agreements.

We have also increased resources that are available to the busiest ports. For example, Border Force is putting in 200 additional staff to help process passengers at Heathrow this summer. They will remain at Heathrow throughout the busiest summer-period to help ensure Border Force delivers an excellent service while continuing to protect the security of the border.

The experience for British and other EEA nationals is further enhanced where those passengers travel using biometric passports as they can use our ePassport gates