04/09/2013

Border Force Audit Finds Searches Sacrificed For Queues

An audit of the Border Force has found that staff were ordered to cut back on the number of searches being carried out in an effort to cut the length of queues.

The National Audit Office reports claims that immigration offers fear being reported to the home secretary when queues become too long, adding that while the office had done well to reduce queues it had been at the expense of searches for drugs, tobacco smuggling and illegal immigrants.

It is understood the in the lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games Theresa May had asked for weekly reports on queue length’s at Heathrow and other major UK points of entry, this has subsequently been reduced to monthly reports.

(MH/CD)

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