UK Border Force aims to check less than third of arrivals for test-and-trace forms | Politics | The Guardian
▻https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/28/uk-border-force-aims-check-just-third-arrivals-test-trace-forms
▻https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/ed7e17d28af0944f6edbe02977145255e0978e75/0_318_4796_2879/master/4796.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-ali
Border Force officials have been set a target of checking less than a third of arrivals to the UK to ensure they have forms to aid test-and-trace efforts, sources have told the Guardian.It raises the prospect that hundreds of thousands of people have entered the country without the documents being inspected. Dozens of travellers have contacted the Guardian to raise concerns over a lack of checks. Arrivals in the UK from abroad must submit a passenger locator form online beforehand, to be shown at the border either in printed form or on a mobile device. Failure to provide details risks a fine of up to £100. Border Force officers “will use the QR code at the top of the document to check you have completed the form successfully”, the government says. Information including the passenger’s UK address and travel details is used to check that individuals are self-isolating if necessary or to warn them if they have come into contact with travellers with Covid-19. Border Force aims to spot-check 30% of arrivals for passenger locator forms, according to a target understood to be contained in a weekly update circulated in Whitehall. It states that between 17 and 23 August, 10% of those spot-checked by Border Force had not filled out the forms. It is understood that the checks need to be made manually by Border Force officials, with no automated system of logging passenger locator form details when passports are scanned. The shadow home secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds, said: “Passenger locator forms are a crucial part of a functioning test, track and isolate system. These are deeply worrying findings, amounting to yet another example of failing to implement effective protective measures at UK borders. This issue needs to be addressed urgently for the sake of public health and to reassure travellers.”
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