Draft Immigration (Leave to Enter and Remain) (Amendment) Order 2026

The Committee consisted of the following Members:

Chair: Mr Clive Betts

† Bance, Antonia (Tipton and Wednesbury) (Lab)

Bradley, Dame Karen (Staffordshire Moorlands) (Con)

† Carling, Sam (North West Cambridgeshire) (Lab)

† Dean, Josh (Hertford and Stortford) (Lab)

† Dickson, Jim (Dartford) (Lab)

† Egan, Damien (Bristol North East) (Lab)

† Fortune, Peter (Bromley and Biggin Hill) (Con)

Gibson, Sarah (Chippenham) (LD)

† Goldman, Marie (Chelmsford) (LD)

† Hatton, Lloyd (South Dorset) (Lab)

† Kearns, Alicia (Rutland and Stamford) (Con)

Lam, Katie (Weald of Kent) (Con)

† Lewin, Andrew (Welwyn Hatfield) (Lab)

† Roca, Tim (Macclesfield) (Lab)

† Tapp, Mike (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Home Department)

† Thompson, Adam (Erewash) (Lab)

† Wakeford, Christian (Lord Commissioner of His Majesty’s Treasury)

Emma Elson, Heather Nathoo, Committee Clerks

† attended the Committee

The following also attended, pursuant to Standing Order No. 118(2):

Forster, Mr Will (Woking) (LD)

Third Delegated Legislation Committee

Tuesday 16 June 2026

[Mr Clive Betts in the Chair]

Draft Immigration (Leave to Enter and Remain) (Amendment) Order 2026

I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Immigration (Leave to Enter and Remain) (Amendment) Order 2026.

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Betts. Lowering the e gate age to eight is a logical next step in realising our vision for the future border and is an extension of existing Government policy. We anticipate that the change will allow an additional 1.5 million children to become e gate eligible, making it easier for families to move through the UK border, especially during the busy summer months, and enabling our highly skilled Border Force officers to focus their efforts on those who may pose a threat to the UK.

My intervention is about the age for access being lowered to eight years old. Perhaps the Minister could reassure us on what assessment has been done of safeguarding. That would make me very happy.

I thank the hon. Member for his pertinent question. Our best mitigation to counter any safeguarding concerns is our Border Force officers. Officers will continue to be deployed to provide a visible presence to counter risks and interact with passengers should any safeguarding concerns arise. Border Force will continue to play an important role in monitoring the use of e gates, intervening where necessary and protecting the public at the UK border.

We already encourage parents travelling with children to use e gates first, ensuring that their child remains in the protection of Border Force should either face any issues when using e gates. I reassure the Committee that this change will apply only to those children accompanied by a responsible adult. Any child under the age of 18 who is unaccompanied must proceed to the desks and be processed by a Border Force officer.

The Committee may have concerns about the increasing dependence on automated technology deployed at the UK border. I cannot comment on the specifics, for obvious reasons, but I can confirm that we rigorously test all border equipment and the Home Office has robust technical and business continuity arrangements in the event of any system failures.

The draft order makes the most modest of changes to existing legislation, but allows us to take a significant step forward in the development of our future border—one that remains secure and fluid, and targets resource where it is most needed. Subject to approval from Parliament, we intend to implement this lower e gates age for accompanied children at airports and juxtaposed controls with e gates on 8 July. I commend the order to the Committee.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. I am grateful to the Minister for his remarks. The Conservative party supports this order and the sensible operational change that it makes. e Gates were rolled out across our major airports under successive Conservative led Governments, with 264 e gates operating by 2019. They now process the majority of arrivals at our busiest ports of entry, freeing up border officers to focus on genuine threats and concerns at our borders. We lowered the minimum e gate age from 12 to 10 in 2023, following a successful trial, so we support the Government continuing in that direction.

This is a practical change. As anyone who has stood in a Border Force queue at Stansted, for example, on a Sunday night in August with tired children knows, we want to get our children home as quickly and safely as possible. Where changes can be made safely and can ease the burden, we will support them. However, the effectiveness of e gates relies on public confidence in the system, so can the Minister expand on whether the Home Office will monitor the impact of lowering the age threshold, particularly on processing times and accuracy rates, and the experience of families travelling with younger children?

Will the Minister confirm whether the Independent Anti slavery Commissioner has been formally consulted on the change, given her work highlighting the challenges that Border Force faces in identifying trafficked children, particularly at ports of entry? Will the Government commit to a review after the first year of operation to look specifically at the ability of Border Force to identify trafficked or vulnerable children at the gates, particularly those subject to modern slavery, and commit to broader safeguarding regarding children at those gates?

We recognise the measure is a positive change. Our border must remain welcoming to legitimate travellers and robust against those who try to abuse it, particularly anyone with a malevolent interest in children.

I thank the hon. Member for her questions. On the first one, tech at the border is under continuous review, I meet with officials on a regular basis to look at friction rates, data and stats. We can adjust accordingly if needed in future. Those are under continuous review. On the anti slavery question and whether there was consultation, I do not have an answer at the moment, but we will write to her in due course with an answer.

The order will enable a positive next step in our ambition to transform the UK border and drive up the use of automation for legitimate travellers to the UK. I emphasise again that the change is minor and builds on existing policy, with robust safeguards in place to support children and their families to cross the UK border in a safe and efficient way. I commend the order to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Committee rose.