heavy schedule, as he prepared for the Paralympic Games and the end of his seven year journey towards London 2012. “Obviously the most visible aspect to the Programme – and the one most likely to capture the attention of the mainstream media – was always going to be the arrivals experience at the Border. In particular the eyes of the world were upon Heathrow, as it was the designated “Olympic” port for London 2012. We are really proud of our performance there during the peak arrivals period, but there is a lot more to our Olympic Programme than queues at Heathrow. As with anything – the secret is in the planning. In that regard I have been very fortunate to have been supported by a hugely committed, determined and dedicated Programme Team over many years. In some ways it is a bit like being an athlete – if you don’t work hard and practise hard before the event then you won’t win Gold.”
Smith is quick to point to success in other areas of the Programme, which were not so visible to the public. “Actually – aside from the excellent performance at Heathrow and indeed at all our ports of entry – we have banked some huge achievements in playing our part to deliver a safe and secure Games.”
For example, UKBA took on the
responsibility of providing the “accreditation solution” for the Home Office, building and implementing an “Olympic Clearing House” from scratch equipped to receive bulk data from LOCOG for background checking against a range of databases. This enabled different arms of government to “screen
out” any
applicants for accreditation that might pose a threat to the Games.
“Of course the vast majority of people seeking accreditation are completely innocent. But – just like people crossing the Border – there is a very small minority that we do not want in the country or in the Olympic venues. Our comprehensive cross check facility – coupled with an effective venue access control system – minimised the risk of anybody gaining access to venues that might cause harm.” Although the accreditation system was built to handle around 450,000 applications, it now seems likely that it will process more than double that number before the Paralympics are over. “In a way we see that as a compliment, although some of our workforce might not!” said Smith. “Having built the system we were soon invited to use it for other Olympic applications – such as for background checks on torch bearers for example. Our ability to turn around applications quickly and efficiently in sometimes challenging circumstances is a testament to the dedication and resilience of the workforce, who were all determined to make sure we delivered our part of the Olympics so that everyone else could enjoy it”. Tony Smith was indeed very well placed to deliver the London 2012 Olympic Programme for UKBA. He has now completed nearly 40 years experience in the Borders and Immigration business, and has had some pretty tough jobs along the way. “Borders have been my whole life, and they continue to fascinate me” he said. “I was Head of Ports and Borders in Citizenship & Immigration Canada when 9/11 happened; and I was Head of UK Border Control when 7/7 happened. You might just say that was bad luck – but on the other hand I learned a huge amount about border security then and I hope I have put it to good use in planning for London 2012. In times of attack people legitimately look to their borders for protection. This shifts the emphasis much more onto control, and queues at the
June 2012 Aviationsecurityinternational
Border are almost
expected. On 9/11 the US closed the Canadian border for 3 days; and on 21/7 the UK introduced embarkation controls - both directly in response to terrorist incidents. Nobody complained about queues then. Yet these times can be easily forgotten in the quest for facilitation – and it is important they are not”.
The balance between security and facilitation is, of course, a perennial challenge for Border Agencies worldwide – no more so than during an event like the Olympic Games. All people and goods were thoroughly checked on arrival at the UK Border – but there were a lot of extra checks conducted in the background that were not immediately apparent to the public. “I don’t think people realise just how good the UK visa system is. In fact, it is the envy of the world in terms of biometrics” says Smith. “All visa nationals have had full biometrics (ten finger scans and digital photo) captured in advance of travel since 2008. This has enabled UKBA to prevent criminals and terrorist suspects from acquiring a “new identity” upon which to travel to the UK. Moreover, biometrics can now be scanned against biometric “watch lists”, thus making it even harder for dangerous people to enter.”
However this did pose a particular challenge for the UK in delivering the “Olympic guarantees”, as Smith explained. “If you want to host the Olympics you have to sign up to the Olympic guarantees. If you don’t, then your bid will be rejected. The most relevant one for us was the agreement that the
www.asi-mag.com 31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52