Question
Immigration referrals following Schedule 7 Terrorism Act stops in Northern Ireland ports, airports and in border areas. Further to the recent answer received on 3 February 2023 could you provide the figures for the numbers referred to the Home Office Immigration Enforcement broken down by those stopped following a tasked and untasked Schedule 7 examination and detention.
Answer
In respect of the terms ‘tasked’ and ‘untasked’, there is no common definition of these types of engagements in use throughout the Counter Terrorism Borders network – the Police Service Ports officers are part of this network.
For the purpose of answering this question:
‘Tasked’ will mean – occasions when the Police Service Ports officer conducted a Schedule 7 examination or detention, and their engagement with the individual was following a referral by any Law Enforcement partner, or partner concerned with aviation security or maritime security.
‘Untasked’ will mean - occasions when the Police Service Ports officer conducted a Schedule 7 examination or detention, and their engagement with the individual was not following any such referral as described above.
For the period 1st April 2022 – 24th October 22 – a total of 27 persons were referred to Home Office Immigration Enforcement by Police Service following a Schedule 7 Terrorism Act stop. Sixteen of these were following untasked Schedule 7 examinations or detentions, 11 were following tasked Schedule 7 examinations or detentions.
Les Allamby