Revealed: real reason for Heathrow chaos

Long queues at the UK’s busiest airport were caused by a lack of effective planning amid job cuts, with staff signing off at the start of busy periods, according to a damning report by inspectors.

Long queues at the UK’s busiest airport were caused by a lack of effective planning amid job cuts, with staff signing off at the start of busy periods, according to a damning report by inspectors.

Limited resources were not being matched to the demand at Heathrow airport, damaging the ability of staff to maintain effective and efficient border controls, the chief inspector of borders and immigration, John Vine, said.

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The introduction of a series of significant changes “was simply far too much organisational change during the busiest time of the year”, the inspectors said.

The critical report on the UK Border Agency and the Border Force comes after the recent political uproar over queues which have seen passengers from outside the EU having to wait for up to three hours.

The introduction of new team structures, rosters and shift patterns had come as border staff numbers at Heathrow’s Terminal 3 fell by 15 per cent from 322 to 277 in the 12 months to last August, the inspectors said.

Mr Vine commented: “I found that recent organisational changes such as the introduction of team-based working, a new shift working system and the amalgamation of immigration and customs roles had suffered from a lack of effective planning.

“Resources were not matched to demand, management oversight and assurance was lacking in many areas and staff were not always properly trained to undertake their duties.

“This was far too much organisational change during Heathrow’s busiest time of the year. I remain concerned that this lack of planning has affected the agency’s ability to maintain an effective and efficient border control.”

But immigration minister Damian Green insisted last night that a culture change was under way.

“We now have more staff at the border during peak times, greater flexibility to man immigration and customs controls, clearer guidance for staff on when vital checks are required and a national training programme with more emphasis on mentoring,” he said.

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“A culture change is under way to make Border Force an organisation that effectively tackles illegal immigration, protects the UK from terrorism and detects crimes like drug trafficking and weapon smuggling.”

But shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper described the report as “extremely damning”. She said: “It makes clear that the Home Secretary’s decision to cut so many staff is having a serious impact. It also shows that poor planning and management have made it worse.”

She went on: “Most damning of all is the fact that queuing targets as well as security checks were being so badly breached last autumn, yet ministers have just sat back and allowed it to get worse.

People will be flabbergasted at Damian Green’s complacency.His claim that the government has taken action since September to sort out these problems is flatly contradicted by the facts. Queues have got worse and worse.”