Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the maximum immigration control queue waiting time at each of London Gatwick’s terminals on Sunday 4 January; and why the immigration control desks were not fully staffed at times of high demand.

There were no breaches of the published service standard at Gatwick on Sunday 4th January 2015; the maximum immigration queue waiting times on that day were as follows:

North Terminal: 35 minutes for non-EEA passengers and 20 minutes for EEA passengers.

South Terminal: 32 minutes for non-EEA passengers and 12 minutes for EEA passengers.

The published service standard for queue times at the border specifies that 95% of British, EEA and Swiss passengers should wait no longer than 25 minutes at passport control and 95% of non-EEA passengers should wait no longer than 45 minutes.

The operational managers continually monitor the situation with regard to queuing times to ensure staff are flexibly deployed in the right numbers at the right times. The security of the border and the safety of the public are our priorities. At Gatwick, eligible travellers also have the option of using the e-Passport gates, of which there are 20 (15 in the South Terminal and 5 in the North Terminal), all of which were in operation on the day in question.