Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the systems used by the Border Force to prevent children subject to court orders from travelling abroad.

The Home Office receives information relating to people entering and leaving the UK from air, rail and maritime carriers. This information is shared with the Police.

The systems used to prevent children subject to court orders from travelling overseas are operated by Counter Terrorist Police on behalf of territorial policing.

Port Alert Orders are signed and issued by a Judge at the Family Court; they are in response to an immediate threat that a child is at risk of being taken out of the UK. Due to the immediacy of the risk, the Judge will usually authorise the Order for a timebound period e.g. 28 days. Once signed, the Court, Solicitor or parent / guardian applicant sends a copy of the order to the police.

If the child attempts to travel out of the UK (in a name / passport provided to the police), then an intervention will take place by uniform policing colleagues at the port the child is leaving from.