Policy paper

The Home Office response to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s report: An inspection of Border Force’s operational response to general aviation flights at London City Airport

Published 26 March 2024

This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

31 January and 1 February 2024

The Home Office thanks the former Independent Chief Inspector for this report. The inspection took place on 31 January and 1 February 2024, focusing on Border Force’s operational response to General Aviation (GA) flights at London City Airport (LCY). This was a Spot Check Inspection (SCI); a new methodology which the inspectorate has been trialling. The ICIBI’s aim is that SCIs are conducted at short notice in a light touch observational style which allows scrutiny of busy operational environments and a quick response to emerging issues.

The Home Office does not consider that the new SCI methodology is a suitable way to examine a subject like GA which is a complex area requiring wider policy, operational and organisational input. In practice, this report was based on two days at one location, which receives a very small proportion of all GA arrivals.

The report highlights inconsistencies in guidance between the Border Force Operating Mandate and GA guidance and the need to reinforce training for staff. It also identifies where improvements to assurance activity by the National GA team can be achieved. In particular, it is critical of perceived poor performance in terms of the number of GA flights physically met by Border Force at LCY and of the subsequent record keeping. This largely relates to a specific issue at that port where GA flights have been assessed and recorded in a manner that differs from the rest of Border Force and is contrary to standard practice. It results in a misleading picture of performance which national leads had already identified and were seeking to address and is an issue which merited clarification prior to the inspection concluding. However, an offer of further explanation was not taken up.

GA is well recognised by Border Force as a key strategic risk, and it has been subject to a capability assessment and significant technological and operational improvements over recent years. These include reducing the number of aerodromes able to handle flights to and from the UK; introduction, from April 2024, of GA Regulations that will mandate submission of passenger and flight data online and in advance; provision of updated guidance and training; implementation this year of a new civil penalty regime. These details were outlined to the ICIBI during the inspection but are not included in the report.

All redactions of material from the inspection report, are for reasons of national security and have been made by the Home Secretary in accordance with the UK Borders Act 2007.

Points of clarification

The ICIBI chose to focus on General Aviation (GA) over two days at one port, (which accounts for less than 2% of GA flights nationally) for their spot check inspection which provides only a very small snapshot of Border Force activity. However, the Director General of Border Force was supportive of a GA inspection by the former ICIBI and had invited scrutiny in this area.

The report is incorrect in its conclusion that there is a significant risk to security. The former ICIBI made inferences about how those flights are checked based on data where there was a known recording issue at London City Airport (LCY). A proportion of flights recorded as high-risk should have been re-classified as low. Because of this classification, those flights received even greater scrutiny than would otherwise be the case and overall Border Force staff at LCY spoke to more arrivals than they were required to by guidance.

The Director General of Border Force wrote to Mr Neal on 12 February 2024 to explain the position and offered an opportunity for a further discussion. The letter also outlined the improvements that have been, and continue to be, made on the approach to GA. It is disappointing the former ICIBI chose not to engage further on the matter.

Remedial action has been taken to ensure that the correct process is followed at LCY. There is now a dedicated officer monitoring all GA arrivals and a team leader undertaking further assurance that all necessary checks are undertaken.

There has since been an audit of the figures. We recognise that the record keeping processes at LCY were unsatisfactory, making it challenging to review the risk classification of GA flights for the period that the ICIBI inspection covered. LCY is now in compliance with the flight classification guidance and following this change, records indicate officers are meeting well above the national average of GA high risk flights. We continue to monitor this activity across the country to identify issues. A training programme on record keeping is underway alongside an assurance review of process and guidance documents.

There is ongoing activity to address threats presented by General Aviation, as set out below.

Airfield reduction 

Border Force has been working to reduce the number of aerodromes able to handle flights to and from the UK and from 1 January 2024 this has reduced so that now only 16% of the total aerodromes are able to handle flights from outside the UK. The remaining 84% of sites in Great Britain are undesignated and now restricted to only domestic movements. This approach is underpinned with a civil penalties regime for non-compliance with airfield designation. This will continue to have a positive impact on Border Force operations, efficiently controlling and securing the border in respect of GA.

Development of SGar

This is the first Border Force owned digital service for the GA industry to use for submission of Advance Passenger Information (API). It was launched in March 2019 and has in excess of 10,000 users submitting digital API. It will be one of the primary methods to use in mandating online GAR, submission with GA regulations due to come in to force in April 2024.

New regulations

From 6 April 2024 under new regulations, pilots and operators responsible for international GA flights will be required to submit information about the flight and the persons on board online and in advance, two hours before the flight. They will need to use ‘Submit a General Aviation Report’ (sGAR), a free-to-use portal on gov.uk, or an approved third-party application or a direct connection to Home Office border systems. This will give Border Force new opportunities to better identify threats and manage tactical deployments. Failure to comply with the regulations will incur a liability to a civil penalty of up to £10,000.

Development of training package for frontline staff

The national GA training package, which the ICIBI was informed of during the inspection, had been piloted prior to the inspection and concluded at the end of February 2024, leading to its inclusion to the learning and development offer for frontline operations in 2024/25.

The Home Office acknowledges there are areas for improvement and accepts or partially accepts all four recommendations. In some cases, work was already in train prior to the inspection, or has been accepted as good practice. Accepting of the recommendations does not, however, reflect an overall acceptance of the tone of the report for the reasons set out above.

Recommendation 1

Guidance and training on processing GA flights for staff at LCY should be reviewed to ensure that:

a) a national training package is rolled out to all GA staff within the next year to ensure consistency of approach

b) all staff are reminded of the location of, and the need to adhere to, the Border Force General Aviation guidance and the General Aviation Information Tool guidance

c) the discrepancies on intention testing [redacted] in the Border Force Operating Mandate and General Aviation guidance are resolved

Accepted

The Home Office regularly reviews guidance and training on processing GA flights. The national GA training package, which the ICIBI was informed of during the inspection, had already been piloted prior to the inspection and will conclude as expected, becoming part of the learning and development offer in 2024/25. The current national GA and General Aviation Information Tool (GAIT) guidance has already been re-issued to frontline teams to support accessibility. GA guidance will be updated to take account of incoming initiatives as well as discrepancies highlighted by the ICIBI report around the processing of certain passenger cohorts. Separately, work to update the Operating Mandate to reflect recent and upcoming changes is ongoing, and the Border Policy and International Migration Directorate has established an Operating Mandate Review Board, to facilitate and provide the necessary governance for an ongoing review process.

Home Office expected implementation date: 31 May 2024

Recommendation 2

Review the Border Force GA guidance so that:

a) the BF national GA team evaluates how the GA guidance is followed nationally and identifies any inconsistencies in its implementation, issuing updated guidance and clarifications where required

b) BF managers at LCY should inform the BF national GA team when they have insufficient resources to meet the required number of high- and low risk flights due to competing border security priorities

c) the BF national GA team should evaluate non-compliance with meeting the required number of high- and low-risk flights nationally and review the risk to the border, escalating to senior leaders and ministers where required

Partially accepted

The Home Office agrees that regularly evaluating GA guidance, undertaking assurance and ensuring that resources are managed effectively is entirely appropriate. That is why the national team already reviews the guidance and issues updates when required as a matter of course. The risk as outlined is actively managed on the national risk register and this will continue with escalation as required.

Home Office expected implementation date: 31 May 2024

Recommendation 3

Border Force GAIT records at LCY should be completed in line with the GA guidance to ensure that:

a) when clearing a high-risk flight remotely, the comments field is completed correctly and in full

b) when granting arriving passengers permission to enter, the comments field is completed correctly and in full

c) the outcome of a flight is completed as soon as the flight has been processed or within 24 hours of the flight landing

d) where possible, GAIT is updated by the officer clearing or attending the flight

Accepted

The Home Office acknowledges that there has been poor record keeping in relation to GA flights at LCY which will be addressed in full through local instruction, first line oversight from local managers and ongoing assurance from the national team.

Home Office expected implementation date: 31 May 2024

Recommendation 4

Review national assurance expectations to ensure that first and second line assurance of GA activity is sufficient and:

a)    LCY managers review the quality of GAIT records on a monthly basis and are aware of the number of GA flights being met and remotely cleared

b)    inconsistencies between teams at LCY in how GA flights are processed are identified and promptly addressed

c)    the Border Force national General Aviation team conducts its own assurance on the number of GA flights being met and remotely cleared and the quality of GAIT records at all locations, and promptly addresses any issues identified with managers.

Accepted

Training is already being provided to staff at LCY, both onsite and online, specifically focused on record keeping, assurance and compliance with guidance. The national guidance has also been re-issued to all teams to reiterate adherence to processes.  Border Force Operational Assurance Directorate will undertake a full review of the operational response in the region and the role of the national team to ensure a clear and well audited process and that best practice can be shared across BF. The National GA Team will continue to sample GAIT records across GA locations, providing direct feedback and support on any issues identified.

Home Office expected implementation date: 31 May 2024