Unsafe at any altitudeU.K. background checks of airport employees lax
There are about 200,000 employees in U.K. airports with permission to enter restricted zones; the criminal background of these employees is being checked before they are given such permissions—but these background checks apply only to the crimes which took place in the United Kingdom; the background checks do not apply to crimes committed in other countries
How is this for a confidence booster: Foreign workers employed airside at U.K. airports do not have to undergo full mandatory criminal records checks, the BBC’s Newsnight has discovered. Since 2003 all staff have been checked against U.K. criminal records, but offences abroad are not covered. The government said workers were also subject to physical security measures on a daily basis and background checks stretching back five years. A review of security due to report in the summer would consider new measures. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, governments across the world pledged to make airports more secure. In the United Kingdom, the government introduced mandatory criminal records checks for all staff working airside. Newsnight has discovered, however, a serious loophole in the legislation. The list of offenses covered by a Criminal Records Check is comprehensive. Anyone who has an unspent conviction for anything from theft or criminal damage to murder or terrorism would be refused a pass airside — known as the restricted zone. This is not true, however, if those crimes were carried out abroad as the Criminal Records Check only covers offenses which take place in the United Kingdom.
Aviation analyst Chris Yates says that leaves passengers very exposed. “We really need to ask the question, is it now necessary to restrict employment at our airports to those people for whom we can carry out the full panoply of checks?” Around 200,000 people work airside at airports across the United Kingdom. BAA would not confirm how many are foreign — though it is estimated to be in the thousands. The sensitivity of airside security was highlighted just last year. John Parkinson, the head of aviation security at the Department of Transport, told a conference that terrorists “would have the components available airside with the help of people who work there.” When an Al-Qaeda sympathizer, Samina Malik, who worked airside in a shop at Heathrow, was convicted of owning terrorist manuals last December, it prompted the government to launch a new review of airport security. This is being headed by former Home Office official, Stephen Boys Smith. He has been taking soundings from organizations like the pilots’ union, BALPA. One of the union’s key concerns is the lack of consistent checks on staff allowed airside, as its general secretary, Jim McAuslan, explained. “I would suggest that if someone can’t pass the test like that they shouldn’t be employed airside
