Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the Government’s expected go through time is for security at Heathrow Terminal 2.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
To incentivise good service quality performance for consumers, the CAA sets the following security queue standards that it expects Heathrow airport to meet under its economic licence:
- Central search security queue standards
o 95% of queue times measured once every 15 minutes that are less than 5 minutes
o 99% of queue times measured once every 15 minutes that are less than 10 minutes
- Transfer search security queue standard
o 95% of queue times measured once every 15 minutes that are less than 10 minutes
- Staff search security queue standard
o 95% of queue times measured once every 15 minutes that are less than 10 minutes
Queue times which do not meet these standards can trigger a rebate payable by Heathrow airport.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if the Government will review all new security systems at airports in response to the three year trial of the Smiths Detection system at Heathrow Airport.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department for Transport keeps security at airports under constant review and is in regular contact with airports and manufacturers. Purchasing equipment however remains the decision of airports.
Any equipment in use must meet the security standards set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) and be approved for use by the Department for Transport. Approved equipment can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/aviation-security-screening-approved-equipment-list.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what training is given to supervisors at Heathrow Airport on using the Smiths Detection security screening system.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Supervisors must have received appropriate training in the use of security equipment. Supervisors have to complete relevant training as outlined in the training syllabi that can be found on the CAA website at https://www.caa.co.uk/Commercial-industry/Security/Training/Syllabuses/. We do not provide details of the specific training for security reasons.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Smiths Detection security screening system at Heathrow Airport.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Secretary of State for Transport is responsible for setting the security measures that should be applied in the UK. The Department for Transport advises the industry on equipment that may be used for screening at an airport. This is set out in the DfT Approved Equipment List https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/aviation-security-screening-approved-equipment-list . All such equipment meets the standards set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) of which the UK is a member.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how long the training is to work with the Smiths Detection security screening system at Heathrow Terminal 2.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Staff must have received appropriate training in the use of equipment before they can operate in a live environment. Staff will have to complete relevant training as outlined in the training syllabi that can be found on the CAA website at https://www.caa.co.uk/Commercial-industry/Security/Training/Syllabuses/. We do not provide details of the specific training for security reasons.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how long do passengers wait on average in security screening at Heathrow Airport; and what the average time is for a passenger to have a bag checked.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Heathrow airport has met the monthly security queue standards set under its economic licence between January – August 2021, as demonstrated in its latest performance reports except for one day in July at Terminal 5 central search.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who is responsible for decisions to incorporate a security screening machines in UK airports; and who is responsible for the effectiveness of those machines.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Secretary of State for Transport is responsible for setting the security measures that should be applied in the UK. The Department for Transport advises the industry on equipment that may be used for screening at an airport. This is set out in the DfT Approved Equipment List https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/aviation-security-screening-approved-equipment-list . All such equipment meets the standards set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) of which the UK is a member.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people are required to man the Smiths Detection security screening system in Heathrow Terminal 2; and how many were required to man the previous system.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
This will be a matter for the airport depending on the configuration of the security checkpoint.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost is of a Smiths Detection security screening system in Heathrow Terminal 2; and how many of those systems there are across all terminals at Heathrow.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department for Transport does not hold this information.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the three-year project to incorporate the Smiths Detection system into the security screening process at Heathrow Terminal 2.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
All security equipment and associated processes are required to meet security standards sufficient to ensure that prohibited articles are not taken beyond the airport search point. For security reasons we do not provide details of such arrangements.