Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) capital and (b) revenue costs are of operating a body scanning machine at a single point of entry over a 24-hour period.

Border Force has a total of 19 body scanners for the purposes of detecting drugs and other illegal contraband at the border; all of which are operational. The average cost of each unit is approximately £133,500 and running revenue cost is £6.50 per unit over a 24hr period.

Border Force also has 5 Passive Millimetre Wave Imaging devices which scan vehicles for the presence of clandestines, all of which are operational. The average capital cost of each unit is approximately £800,000. The maintenance cost to the Home Office over a 24 hour period is approximately £83 per unit.

The Department for Transport requires Security (Body) Scanners to be deployed at some UK airports, at their cost, as part of the outbound air passenger screening process.