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By Paula Planelles Manzanaro
The installation of electronic migration controls, known as “e-gates”, at Heathrow airport will be delayed until the results of an investigation which has caused turmoil at the UK Border Agency last autumn. The E-Gates would reduce queues of up to three hours for non-Europeans when they arrive in London. The E-Gates solution will be a solution for the increase of passengers during the Olympics, 45 per cent more are expected during the peak days. The new infrastructure, which has a value of £8m, would let registered non-European passengers to pass electronic immigration controls. However, its installation has been delayed until the border agency has a database of registered travellers and until the results of an inquiry last summer over the relaxation of border controls at British ports, according to a report in the Financial Times.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, has blamed Brodie Clark, the head of the UK Border Force, for making unauthorized short cuts to the control procedure, which finished with Mr. Clark’s resignation. BAA, Heathrow’s owner, has said that “UKBA… has been working to bring these new gates online, but has paused while it completes internal investigations following the departure of Brodie Clark”.
In addition, there are two other external investigations, whose reports have not been made public yet, and are being carried out, one by the Home Office the head of immigration and the other by the chief inspector of the border agency, according to the report in the Financial Times.
With the Olympic Games approaching the installation of the “E-Gates” is required, according to BAA. “We could be ready [in time for the Olympics] but this is entirely within the hands of government and what their strategy is unclear”, BAA’s commercial director, John Holland-Kaye, told the BBC.
Meanwhile, the UK border agency commented that it will make efforts in order “to secure the border at all times and we will ensure sufficient resources and technology are put in place to meet the extra demand during the Olympic period”. Its chief executive, Rob Whiteman, stated that “the fact is that the vast majority of people who come through Heathrow are trusted travellers, but they’re treated as just the opposite”.
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