Calum

I'll take CBP or CBSA over UKBF any day. Although I'm a British, I was travelling with a non-eu citizen connecting at LHR and the queue was 80 minutes, which is a beyond a joke.

In fact, if there was a government agency I have the least faith in, it's probably UKBF.

NWIFlyer

.

We'll have them in Norfolk then! Those who remotely followed the national news last week may have noticed a slight paucity of response in the north of our County ...

The aftermath saw senior officers do everything to avoid admitting their handling of incidents was at least partly to do with having insufficient manpower. Is this also an issue with those heading Border Force - that there is some political reason (with a small p) why they don't themselves press for more money so they can consistently meet their wait time targets?

TBD

lol @ BA telling others how to improve service .....

UKtravelbear

Border Force is part of the Home Office directly accountable to Ministers and so can't - under civil service rules - make political statements - which asking for more Ł/Staff would count as.

The most BF can hope for in public lobbying terms to press its case is reports from it's independent monitor and companies such as airlines and airport operators, the unions and the wider travel industry.

The Police are independent of Government - in that they do not directly control them - so Chief Constables and Police & Crime Commissioners can make public comment on the resources they have / need

markle

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ianfly

It does drive me crazy when there's 29 gates and I've never once seen more than a third of them in use. And then Heathrow airport employs more staff than border control to tell you how to queue.

I understand there are budget cuts but why spend all that money on e-gates and never use them? Especially when you add up how much air passenger duty we have to pay.....

irishguy28

Are they advocating joining the Schengen agreement?

Tobias-UK

Correct, they are law enforcement officers in their own right with powers of arrest and detention.

missdimeaner

Having a relative in the UKBA I can only say that it has been pared down over the years and I think that the pigeons are definitely coming home to roost.
It doesn't surprise me that under investment and relying on the goodwill of staff the whole shebang is beginning to show the strain.
Oh wait.....

Oggers

What a load of cobblers, I have to say I normally find immigration at T5 fast and efficient, I think my record was 50mins from wheels down to home (ok i had hand luggage only). Normally the only issue is the extra 1/4 mile you need to walk through the zig zag barriers to get to the gates.

Me thinks this is a cunning (or not) marketing ploy by BA to deflect from the appalling customer service and relations they have adopted over the last few years.

wolf72

Can't the money collected from all passengers entering/departing the terminal be used towards paying the wages of the border force by adding 1-2 pounds per person for an arrival/departure tax?

And to ensure all gates are opened and all counters are manned at peak hours?

NWIFlyer

We shouldn't overlook that the people BA is concerned about are those who don't have access to the e-gates, and in that respect I've certainly seen some very long queues through the tensa barriers. When T5 works well it's straightforward, but there are certainly far too many occasions when it simply does not.

You're unlikely to refuse to return to your own country if you get held up, but for those who have a choice where they put their tourist pounds it's somewhat more critical that they get a good first impression of the UK. Certainly before I got Global Entry I'd actively try and avoid arriving at certain US airports - Atlanta was one where the staff were frequently belligerent and the queues obscene - and there's no question that the immigration message sent out by that same country now is very likely to put people off because they will anticipate long delays.

Last year, the BBC - a very global news agency - had reports about queuing times at many airports, particularly LHR. That will equally have sent an impression around the world that the UK wasn't a great place to visit because of its own immigration policies and lack of staff to implement them. This article will only reinforce that. BA is right to raise this as a concern, because it represents a very real threat to their profitable long haul operations.

Kumulani

Why don't they just do facial recognition? Seems to work pretty well with the SmartGates in Australia and New Zealand.

UKtravelbear

Did you read the thread?

The issue is that late at night the gates - that use facial recognition - are closed!

deeruck

Or just open up the e-gates to more passports, and without the 4 prior visit requirement.