To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the staffing levels of immigration service officials at (a) Heathrow airport (all terminals) and (b) Gatwick airport, in terms of total numbers of staff and by grade, at 1 June for each year from 1986 up to 1 June 1989.
The tables below set out the allocation of staff, by grade, at Heathrow and Gatwick airports on the dates requested. The figures relate primarily to permanent staff but also include seasonally employed officers who operate the embarkation control during the summer, thereby releasing permanent staff for the arrivals control.
Immigration service staff in post on 1 June
| ||||||
Year
| Assistant chief Inspector
| Inspector
| Chief immigration officer
| Immigration officer
| 3 Seasonal immigration officer
| 1 General service grades
|
Heathrow (all terminals)—by grade
| ||||||
| 1 June 1986 | 3 | 14 | 77 | 518 | 70 | 62·5 |
| 1 June 1987 | 3 | 17 | 85 | 2571·5 | 66 | 61·5 |
| 1 June 1988 | 3 | 19 | 85 | 525 | 54 | 54·5 |
| 1 June 1989 | 3 | 16 | 88 | 552·5 | 53 | 59 |
Gatwick—by grade
| ||||||
| 1 June 1986 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 152·5 | 21 | 11 |
| 1 June 1987 | 1 | 4 | 19 | 149 | 8 | 10 |
| 1 June 1988 | 1 | 6 | 29 | 193 | 5 | 13 |
| 1 June 1989 | 1 | 6 | 35 | 214 | 18 | 13 |
Notes:
1 The general service grades shown in the final column are given as one figure for ALL grades. This includes the following grades; higher executive officer, executive officer, administrative officer, administrative assistant, personal secretary, typist, messenger and interpreter.
2 The 1987 staff in post figures for immigration officers is unusually high because of the need to deal with the large backlog of casework which arose from the introduction of the various visa requirements in 1986 and 1987. It also reflects the fact that a number of staff were based at Heathrow prior to transfer to Gatwick when the new terminal opened there on 22 March 1988.
3 The number of seasonal immigration officers increases further in July and August.