Police chief inspector Phil Falla has assured islanders that foreign workers who have access to secure areas of Guernsey Airport receive thorough criminal record checks.(0521570)
OREIGN workers at Guernsey Airport who have access to secure areas do receive thorough criminal record checks, a police chief has said.
Since 2003, members of staff have been checked against UK criminal records but BBC Newsnight discovered this week that foreign workers at UK airports had not been checked for offences which were committed abroad.
The UK government said that it would take too long and be too complex to check criminal records from abroad. But Guernsey Police chief inspector Phil Falla said workers at Guernsey’s airport are fully checked depending on what security category they were.
‘If they have access to secure areas then a full check is done, which includes their country of origin, places and where they have been a resident leading up to the check,’ he said.
After the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, governments across the world have pledged to make their airports more secure.
In the UK, the government introduced mandatory criminal record checks for all staff working airside.
The loophole regarding checks on workers from countries outside the UK has lead to fierce attacks from the national media as well as opposition politicians.
Inspector Falla said criminal record checks in other countries would be time consuming.
‘More so with some countries than others,’ he said.
‘You are also very much reliant on the accuracy and co-operation of those countries and the information that they have.
‘We do the checks for the employers, so if the employer grades the employee highly, we will do a full check.’
Flybe said that it had been calling for tighter checks for some time.
A spokesman said, ‘Flybe complies with both Home Office and the States of Guernsey requirements for the issue of passes at all of the airports where airside clearance is required by our staff.
‘Flybe has been lobbying the authorities for some time to encourage a wider criminal-records check for foreign nationals from their country of origin or their place of residence within the last five years.’
Public Services Department, which runs the airport, was unavailable for comment.
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