The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Hanson of Flint) (Lab)

As my noble friend Lady Chapman said earlier, it is just like old times. The order we are debating today makes a simple and minor change to the legislation which governs how a person may seek to obtain permission to enter the UK via an automated e-passport gate or e-gate. In real terms, this change lowers the age at which an eligible person can normally use an e-gate from 10 to eight, provided that they are also 120 centimetres, or, in old money, dare I say it, 3 feet 11 inches tall—I am afraid I just happen to still be an old money sort of guy, but there we go. In May 2025, in the immigration White Paper, this Government set out our ambition to revolutionise the UK border by using automated technology to keep the UK safe and our border secure, and to increase passenger flow through our ports and improve the targeted action of Border Force officers. Lowering the e-gate eligibility age is the next step in delivering this ambition. E-gates are by no means new or novel technology: they have been used in the United Kingdom since 2008. In 2025, 77 million people successfully used e-gates to enter the UK, and they are proven to be a safe and effective method to cross our border. Currently, British citizens and nationals of the EU, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the United States can normally use e-gates to enter the United Kingdom. The change in this SI before us does not amend the list; it simply lowers the age from 10 to eight. I am, however, continuing to look with colleagues at options for further expansion of eligibility, including to the other five British nationalities who are currently unable to use e-gates, and I intend to bring forward further information in the coming months. May I also say a word about safeguarding at this juncture? I reassure the Committee that robust safeguarding protections will remain in place at the border. First, and in line with current policy and operating procedures, only accompanied children between the ages of eight and 18 will be able to use e-gates. Any unaccompanied child or child below the age of eight will still be required to see a Border Force officer in the usual way. Secondly, we are going to update and reissue our guidance to officers and airport hosts to encourage adults travelling alone with children to use the e-gates first. The reason for this is to keep the child airside and in the care of Border Force should they encounter any difficulties using e-gates. By maintaining this approach, we can facilitate much quicker referrals and ensure that children are reunited with family groups in an efficient, safe and controlled manner. Our greatest safeguard, of course, is the continued deployment of the highly skilled Border Force officers, to whom I pay eternal tribute. They will continue to be a visible presence at all ports with e-gates, and they will continue to monitor the use of the gates themselves, observing passengers to identify any cause for concern and, indeed, taking action to protect any vulnerable person and the UK border as a whole. I also acknowledge that there may be concerns regarding the ever-increasing dependency on automation deployed at our border. I hope I can reassure the Committee that all border technology is rigorously tested, and there are robust business continuity arrangements in place in the Home Office and Border Force to deal with any system outage that may occur. I believe this order makes a simple and minor change to existing legislation and border policy arrangements and enables us to consider progress towards delivering a future border model. This model will use technology to keep the UK safe, improve passenger flow for legitimate travellers and better target Border Force interventions at those who seek to do harm to our country or to individuals entering it. Finally, in the event of both Houses of Parliament agreeing this change, the Government hope to implement the change to e-gate eligibility from 8 July. I beg to move.