A report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has found that the Border Force IT systems are ‘inadequate’ and that development plans are ‘unrealistic’.

The report stated that IT systems risks collapsing and that targets for passenger checks are unlikely to be achieved due to the current state of Border Force procurement.

The report identified that the Border Forces’ use of the e-Borders programme as a at risk area, given that the e-Borders scheme has already come under criticism earlier in the year.

The PAC report called for the Border Force to underline how it would deliver new IT services required to meet targets, including the carrying out of exit checks on 80 per cent of passengers by 2015.

"There are worrying gaps in the intelligence data available to the Border Force and its IT systems are not up to the job”, said PAC chair Margaret Hodge MP said.

Immigration minister Mark Harper, said: "It will take time to transform Border Force and fix all the problems we inherited but I am confident that we are making the right changes. None of the issues raised in this report come as a surprise and they are already being actively addressed.”

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