Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which Government policies on ensuring the (a) security of UK ports and (b) identification and checking of containers for contraband, trafficked persons or other illegal activity are the responsibility of his Department; and which such policies which are the responsibility of another department his Department has a secondary role in.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department for Transport (DfT) is responsible for ensuring that proportionate security measures are in place to protect ports, passengers and ships registered in this country. These measures are risk based and are designed to mitigate the threat from terrorism. This work involves close co-operation with other government departments, the Police and the maritime industry.

The Home Office is responsible for the detection of contraband and trafficked persons at UK Ports. DfT works closely with the Home Office and other partner agencies to counter this type of illegal activity.