Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the remarks by the Chief Operating Officer of Heathrow Airport that queues at border control (1) regularly exceed three hours, and (2) sometimes exceed six hours; what plans they have to provide more staff to process border procedures; and what assessment they have made of the impact of border control waiting times on the UK’s international reputation.
Wait times in airports can be caused by a number of factors, not just related to resourcing. This includes all mandated border security activity, the volume of immigration case working, additional support, specific security activity and, like many other international destinations, checks in relation to ensuring border health measures relating to the Covid-19 have been complied with.
Our teams seek to balance this range of tasking each day. Whilst mindful of passenger wait times and experience, our primary objective is to ensure the security of the border and compliance with border health measures.
Like all public services operating throughout this unprecedented global pandemic, there have been additional pressures placed on Border Force and the safety of the public and our staff remains our priority.
Resource and staffing requirements at every port, including Heathrow, are continually reviewed by Border Force working with airport operators including Heathrow Airport Ltd.