The Home Office response to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s report: A re-inspection of ePassport gates
Updated 1 March 2024
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May 2023
The Home Office thanks the Independent Chief Inspector for this report. The inspection took place across three sites and focused on Border Force staff and the effectiveness of Border Force’s response in mitigating some of the risks caused by increased automation.
The Home Office is pleased that the inspection team found Border Force staff to be dedicated and well-motivated. We acknowledge that airport environments are complicated and sometimes factors beyond our immediate control can impact our processes, but our aim is to provide a professional and adaptable service which protects the public by providing a secure border, whilst facilitating legitimate travel and trade.
The ICIBI identified several areas for improvement and has made a total of six recommendations in several thematic areas. Work is already underway to tackle the issues raised. The Home Office has fully accepted five and partially accepted one recommendation.
Recommendation 1
Implement effective training programmes across Border Force so that all officers deployed to the three roles associated with the ePassport gates are trained in vulnerability and behavioural detection.
Accepted
The Home office recognises that vulnerability and behavioural detection training are important for Border Force staff deployed to all three roles. As part of an ongoing programme, work is already underway to train greater numbers of staff in both areas identified. This is being supplemented by a new behavioural detection module within Border Force’s Protecting the Vulnerable training as a specialism.
Home Office expected implementation date: 31 March 2024.
Recommendation 2
Implement effective oversight and assurance mechanisms to ensure that roving officers are:
- focused on border security and safeguarding
- appropriately positioned to enable them to carry out their duties effectively with a minimum of distraction
Accepted and implemented
On occasions, the sheer volume of passenger foot fall will make it extremely difficult for officers not to be engaged by the public on matters wider than border security and in those cases, it is right that they deal with requests for help in line with their professional standards.
The importance of the role is well recognised and assurance mechanisms are already in place. A first line assurance check within the Border Force assurance expectations requires managers to confirm that trained roving officers are deployed and working effectively across Border Force locations. We have reinforced the importance of this to frontline staff and managers and relevant aspects of eGates operations will continue to be monitored through the established programme of second line assurance port spot checks.
Recommendation 3
Ensure Border Force local rostering is robust, so officers carry out their roles in accordance with Border Force guidance and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) so that:
- monitoring officers perform the role for a maximum of one hour
- two or more roving officers are in place when ten or more ePassport gates are in operation
Accepted
We fully accept that local rostering should be robust to ensure staff are able to carry out their duties in line with guidance and standard operating procedures. Local managers at the ports inspected will take steps to address compliance for both points, bearing in mind the need to maintain business delivery. Border Force will check on the effectiveness of this through established second line assurance mechanisms. This will allow for wider lessons to be shared across Border Force.
Home Office expected implementation date: 31 March 2024.
Recommendation 4
Work with port operators to ensure port infrastructures are optimised as far as
possible, to maximise the effectiveness of ePassport gates operations and the effectiveness of the three people roles associated with the system.
Accepted
We will continue to work closely with port operators to provide feedback and optimise infrastructures where viable to enable maximum effectiveness of the ePassport gate operations. This work will be improved by the management information outlined at recommendation 6. Initial discussions are already underway across some sites to expand and upgrade the ePassport gate areas.
Home Office expected implementation date: 31 March 2024.
Recommendation 5
Review communication requirements at ports in order that all Border Force officers in the roles of roving, monitoring and referrals are individually issued with radios connected to duty operational managers whenever they are deployed.
Partially accepted
The frontline approach to communications will be reviewed as part of the next stage of the Border Force Capability Assessment from September 2023. The outcome of that review will determine how radios are issued at each site based on operational need, safety and efficiency. Following this review, the Port Provisions Programme, will ensure the right provisions are available at ports, and the Operational Logistics Directorate will monitor communication requirements at ports. Border Force Operational Assurance Directorate will instruct local managers to undertake appropriate assurance checks to ensure staff are issued with all the equipment they need for their role and will comment on effectiveness of this through second line assurance.
Home Office expected implementation date: 31 March 2024.
Recommendation 6
Improve the quality of management information on ePassport gate performance available to Border Force local teams to enable them to:
- better predict demand for gates
- identify and fix faults with individual gates
- identify trends in document compatibility with the gate
- identify trends in reasons for passengers being referred from the gates
Accepted and implemented
A new management information solution has been developed to extract live data from all ports which will be compiled into reports and uploaded, making it accessible for local teams. Alongside the standard number of transactions at each gate for every port, the reports also contain more detailed data breakdowns. This data will give insight into daily, weekly, and monthly trends for each gate at each port.