My Lords, I thank the Minister for her explanation. As she said, this SI does two main things. First, it removes the sunset clause in the original 2015 regulations and, secondly, it extends the provisions to the Channel Tunnel. The 2015 regulations were welcome because they introduced civil penalties that effectively encouraged transport operators to take regular and systematic steps to keep accurate records to check passengers against names and so on.
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These are things we take for granted as part of security nowadays, and I do not share the concerns of the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, about the cost to the business. This is routine now, and the costs have been built into the price we, as passengers, pay for travelling by these various means.
Previously, it was hardly appropriate for there to be criminal penalties for inefficiency; criminal penalties for deliberate deception are another issue. The 2015 regulations usefully filled that gap.
I also do not share the concerns of the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, about the £10,000 maximum penalty, which, as the Minister pointed out, has never been levied. A sum of £10,000 is hardly draconian when you are operating kit worth millions of pounds.
I am not, this evening, going to enter into discussion on the general principles of this Government’s policies on immigration control. I will confine myself to this specific measure, on which I have some questions.
First, the Minister addressed the removal of the sunset clause in her introductory comments. The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee had comments and pointed out that the sunset clauses have a useful role in ensuring that legislation is regularly reviewed for its continued appropriateness. Now that the sunset clause is to be removed, what plans do the Government have to monitor this legislation and ensure that it is still fit for purpose?
Secondly, it is logical the Channel Tunnel is included, and I am above all interested in why it was omitted originally. Can the Minister explain why it was not included previously? I am sure everyone will be interested. Importantly, what discussions have the Government had with Eurostar, the shuttle operator and freight operators, because this has an additional impact on their business?
I am a regular Eurostar passenger, and an occasional user of the shuttle. Apart from the environmental benefits of train over plane, one of the great attractions of Eurostar has been the swift process for checking passengers in. That used to apply to the shuttle as well. From my experience last week and the last couple of times I have used Eurostar, I can say that that benefit is already seriously eroded by the additional requirements of Brexit. Last week I was in a queue of well over an hour to get through passport control at St Pancras.
On this SI and extra checks proposed, paragraph 7.1 of the Explanatory Memorandum says:
“This information allows Border Force and police to carry out checks before departure from the UK for appropriate law enforcement action and before departure to or arrival in the UK which is essential for border security.”
Therefore, my questions to the Minister are as follows. Can she explain exactly how those extra checks are going to be operated? Can she assure us that this will not lead to even greater delays than currently? How many staff are going to be devoted to checking a Eurostar train, for example? On what scale is the additional staffing being provided? We cannot implement procedures which make the UK even less welcome to tourists than it has already become as a result of Brexit. The delays at passport control are now becoming part of the regular folklore within the EU, and that is doing our reputation as a nation great harm.
My final question concerns paragraph 7.3 of the Explanatory Memorandum, which says that no fixed penalty notices have been issued but that warning notices have been issued instead. Just so that we can
get a feel for this, I ask how often these warning notices are issued. I would be very interested to hear the Minister’s comments.