Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)

I am grateful to the noble Lords, Lord Davies of Gower and Lord German, and the noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, for their broad support for the order. They have asked legitimate questions, which I will come to in a moment. The purpose of this order is to improve the customer experience for young people and for children and families in particular—we are aware of that. We believe that the system is an added benefit and we support it. In answer to the question about whether testing will take place before 8 July, I say that testing is taking place. I will not reveal the results of those tests, but testing is taking place and will continue to do so. I mentioned in my opening remarks the officers of Border Force. They are central to my comments because they are professional officers who are trained to do a job. They will still be there in sufficient numbers to do that job. They are being trained in behaviour detection and to provide support for any child who, for whatever reason, cannot use—or fails to use—an eGate. I am confident that lowering the eGate age to eight will not significantly increase safeguarding risks. The safety and protection of all passengers at the UK border is of the utmost importance to, and a primary concern of, the Government. We will continue to deploy Border Force officers in arrivals halls and at ports with a higher number of eGates. They will be able to monitor passengers using eGates and those in the queue. They will interact with families or groups to mitigate safeguarding risks. As they are now, they will be a visible presence. Where difficulties occur because a child is below the registered height—that is a real issue; people differ in height, but we need to have the machines in use—there is potential for a Border Force officer to involve themselves in that safeguarding role. We encourage single adults travelling with children to enter the eGate first. That means that, should they or a child in the travelling group encounter any difficulties using the eGate, they will remain within the protection area of Border Force officials who can assist them. Where there are multiple parents—we have all done this in the past with our own children—one will perhaps go through first and see the children through, and the other will hold up the rear to see what is happening. My kids are now 38, 37, 36 and 23, and they are quite happily doing it themselves. Like the noble Lord, Lord German, I might on occasion have to take a grandchild through an eGate—three of them are seven, four and two years old and the youngest is five months old. None of them currently qualify, but they have got into Hansard, so that will be impressive in the future, if nothing else. There are protections in place. The safety and security of the border is important. As I have set out, Border Force officers will continue to play a crucial role in supporting family groups and children crossing the UK border. I must say that we are not alone in undertaking this type of activity. A number of countries use similar procedures; for example, Australia and Singapore now allow seven year-olds and six year-olds, respectively, to use their versions of these gates. It is important that we safeguard. Valid points have been made, but on behalf of the Government I am giving an assurance that trained staff are there and that, ultimately, the human element of this process is still present. I hope the process will allow speedier access and entry into the United Kingdom. I hope that I have answered the points that have been raised by noble Lords, and I commend the order to the Grand Committee. Motion agreed.