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

Considered in Grand Committee

Moved by

That the Grand Committee do consider the Immigration (Leave to Enter and Remain) (Amendment) Order 2026.

As my noble friend Lady Chapman said earlier, it is just like old times.

The order we are debating today makes a simple and minor change to the legislation which governs how a person may seek to obtain permission to enter the UK via an automated e-passport gate or e-gate. In real terms, this change lowers the age at which an eligible person can normally use an e-gate from 10 to eight, provided that they are also 120 centimetres, or, in old money, dare I say it, 3 feet 11 inches tall—I am afraid I just happen to still be an old money sort of guy, but there we go.

In May 2025, in the immigration White Paper, this Government set out our ambition to revolutionise the UK border by using automated technology to keep the UK safe and our border secure, and to increase passenger flow through our ports and improve the targeted action of Border Force officers. Lowering the e-gate eligibility age is the next step in delivering this ambition.

E-gates are by no means new or novel technology: they have been used in the United Kingdom since 2008. In 2025, 77 million people successfully used e-gates to enter the UK, and they are proven to be a safe and effective method to cross our border. Currently, British citizens and nationals of the EU, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the United States can normally use e-gates to enter the United Kingdom.

The change in this SI before us does not amend the list; it simply lowers the age from 10 to eight. I am, however, continuing to look with colleagues at options for further expansion of eligibility, including to the other five British nationalities who are currently unable to use e-gates, and I intend to bring forward further information in the coming months.

May I also say a word about safeguarding at this juncture? I reassure the Committee that robust safeguarding protections will remain in place at the border. First, and in line with current policy and operating procedures, only accompanied children between the ages of eight and 18 will be able to use e-gates. Any unaccompanied child or child below the age of eight will still be required to see a Border Force officer in the usual way. Secondly, we are going to update and reissue our guidance to officers and airport hosts to encourage adults travelling alone with children to use the e-gates first. The reason for this is to keep the child airside and in the care of Border Force should they encounter any difficulties using e-gates. By maintaining this approach, we can facilitate much quicker referrals and ensure that children are reunited with family groups in an efficient, safe and controlled manner.

I am not entirely clear how Border Force would address the safeguarding risk. I am not an expert on Border Force methods, but the Explanatory Memorandum says that

“the continued deployment of Border Force officers in the arrivals hall”

would be done

“to identify safeguarding risks.”

I was not clear from the Minister’s presentation what they would be looking for in order to identify safeguarding risks. Presumably, for children between eight and 10 who have to go through physical checks, there is some training of Border Force officers in their checking and questioning, which of course will not happen with e-gates. I was not clear what they would be looking for—what they would be trying to identify in the behaviour or identity of the adult and child going through.

I just add how impressed I have been with my recent use of e-gates, contrary to the experience at other points. One has just sailed through recently—touch wood. I may be tempting fate, but it has worked for me the last few times I have used it.

Obviously, this is very straightforward, but the title of the order is perhaps misleading to anybody outside this place who does not realise that it is as straightforward as has been suggested. I can recall being in this very Room when we moved the age down to 10, and the Minister at that time said that he had twins aged 10, and therefore he felt very comfortable about that proposal. I am the grandfather of an eight year-old. I do not know whether this is of any significance, but it certainly raised questions about some technicalities which I would like to ask the Minister.

Paragraph 35 of the Economic Note states:

“Planned eGate and Home Office system testing … will provide more … estimates on the security”

etc. of

“allowing … children”.

Has this testing taken place and, if not, will it take place before the start date of 8 July? Secondly, I welcome the fact that the Minister is looking for further countries to be admitted.

I now turn to the three feet 11 issue. I am assuming that that measurement is correct, because it is 120 cm, and I am sure the Minister has worked it out. As I understand it from the associated notes, 10% of children in that age bracket are below that height. That is quite a significant number, if 10% do what they do at theme parks, which is to stand next to the measure on tiptoe so they can get on the ride, as I have seen frequently—sometimes encouraged by their parents. If they are three feet 10, for example, what would happen? Presumably, the machinery would not work: the camera would not be at the right height to take their face and biometric details, which had already been provided. There would have to be a turnaround, and the usual problem of people not being able to work the gates.

The second question relates to a single adult with a child, and the single adult being either requested or told to go through first. I would be loath to leave an eight year-old child behind two sets of sliding doors. I have seen what happens, often, with 10 year-olds who have been in front of me in the queue: they do not necessarily do what they are supposed to do, which is put your feet on the marks and look at the camera. Usually, the parent will then lean over the gate and shout at them and say, “Put your feet on that; stand up straight; look at the camera”, as parents would want to do with their children.

I just wonder whether this is a suggestion, a rule or something else. The natural instinct of a parent—and, I must say, a grandparent—would be to stand behind the child to make sure they do the job you are asking of them. It is what you do with children anyway: you put them in front of you. However, if you are a single parent or a parent on your own with a child, moving through and leaving the child behind is a bit unsatisfactory, given where the parents will be.

I know what the rulebook says, because it is here in front of us. It says that there will be an officer who will make sure that they go through properly. That is still not comforting to a parent of an eight year-old. These children are much younger than a 10 year-old and often need help doing straightforward things, such as tidying up after a meal, putting the dishes away and all that sort of stuff, which they continually need to be reminded of at that age. It is the same even for 10 year-olds, but, obviously, it is going to be more of an issue with children who have just reached that age.

My third question relates to what I have observed where there are French boarding gates and UK boarding gates. For those who have not been through it, at the Gare du Nord in Paris, you go through the French gates, then you go through the UK gates immediately afterwards—one after the other, two sets of electronic gates—and there are differences in how you use them. In the French system, the camera moves up and down so that it adjusts to your height; that is not done automatically—it slides up and down according to where you stand in the area where the gates are situated. Given that this is not a frequent operation—clearly, it occurs only where juxtaposed customs take place—I wonder whether any attempt is being made to get some form of technical uniformity between our gates and the French gates. Where they are juxtaposed, it will always be down to the French gates.

Apart from that, this measure will certainly encourage more parents to use the electronic gates if they are there. I know that those who are aware of this measure and have no children under the age of eight will be very pleased to be able to take the faster route through the electronic gates, rather than the whole family having to decamp to the manual system.

Apart from that, this measure will certainly encourage more parents to use the electronic gates if they are there. I know that those who are aware of this measure and have no children under the age of eight will be very pleased to be able to take the faster route through the electronic gates, rather than the whole family having to decamp to the manual system.

With those comments and questions, we are pleased to support this order.

My Lords, the Minister will be delighted to hear that His Majesty’s Official Opposition do not oppose this order, and I am grateful to the Minister for bringing it before the Committee.

Families travelling through our major ports during the school holidays will know only too well the frustrations of lengthy queues. As the Minister outlined, this order extends e-gate eligibility to eight and nine year-olds who hold biometric passports for eligible nationalities. The Government anticipate that an additional 1.5 million children per year will be able to pass through automatically as a result of this change. That is very welcome. It will ease pressure at peak times and, crucially, it will free up our Border Force officers to focus where they are most needed: on complex cases and genuine security risks. This is a sensible rebalancing of resources.

I would like to make a few points and press the Minister on the safeguards that have been put in place. What measures will the Government adopt to ensure that the new lower age limits will not be open to abuse? Will the Government maintain a strong presence of Border Force staff at all points of entry? It is also very important that the implications for child safeguarding are carefully considered. That matter has already been alluded to, and I know that the Minister mentioned it in his opening speech. Can the Minister guarantee that unaccompanied under-18s will still be directed to Border Force officers?

I note that, at certain peak times, the e-gates in airports can be very busy. Obviously, where this is the case, lowering the age limit for e-gate use will not help speed up the arrivals process, so are the Government giving any thought to other measures that could help ease passenger congestion at particularly busy times?

Finally, it is important that this policy be reviewed at regular intervals and that the Home Office is rigorous in its annual monitoring of these safeguards as the policy beds in.

I am grateful to the noble Lords, Lord Davies of Gower and Lord German, and the noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, for their broad support for the order. They have asked legitimate questions, which I will come to in a moment. The purpose of this order is to improve the customer experience for young people and for children and families in particular—we are aware of that. We believe that the system is an added benefit and we support it.

In answer to the question about whether testing will take place before 8 July, I say that testing is taking place. I will not reveal the results of those tests, but testing is taking place and will continue to do so.

I mentioned in my opening remarks the officers of Border Force. They are central to my comments because they are professional officers who are trained to do a job. They will still be there in sufficient numbers to do that job. They are being trained in behaviour detection and to provide support for any child who, for whatever reason, cannot use—or fails to use—an eGate. I am confident that lowering the eGate age to eight will not significantly increase safeguarding risks.

The safety and protection of all passengers at the UK border is of the utmost importance to, and a primary concern of, the Government. We will continue to deploy Border Force officers in arrivals halls and at ports with a higher number of eGates. They will be able to monitor passengers using eGates and those in the queue. They will interact with families or groups to mitigate safeguarding risks. As they are now, they will be a visible presence. Where difficulties occur because a child is below the registered height—that is a real issue; people differ in height, but we need to have the machines in use—there is potential for a Border Force officer to involve themselves in that safeguarding role.

We encourage single adults travelling with children to enter the eGate first. That means that, should they or a child in the travelling group encounter any difficulties using the eGate, they will remain within the protection area of Border Force officials who can assist them. Where there are multiple parents—we have all done this in the past with our own children—one will perhaps go through first and see the children through, and the other will hold up the rear to see what is happening. My kids are now 38, 37, 36 and 23, and they are quite happily doing it themselves. Like the noble Lord, Lord German, I might on occasion have to take a grandchild through an eGate—three of them are seven, four and two years old and the youngest is five months old. None of them currently qualify, but they have got into Hansard, so that will be impressive in the future, if nothing else.