Frontline police and border force officers will remain locked out of information on a key EU database of terror suspects, criminals and immigration offenders for at least another four years, the Home Office has quietly admitted.
UK police and security services conducted more than 600m real time checks on the Schengen Information System II [SIS II] in 2019, but the following year lost access to its instant information on policing, national security, or immigration alerts because of Brexit. A civil servant said they hoped to get access to a planned new EU international law enforcement alert platform “within two or three years, according to a 2021 House of Lords report”.
But it has now emerged that Matthew Rycroft, the department’s permanent secretary, has said that gaining access to EU datasets is at “a very early stage” and is not expected to be completed before 2027/2028.
Responding to the document, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the Conservatives have badly weakened the country’s armoury in the fight against cross-border crime.
“Conservative ministers promised us that they would put new systems in place so we wouldn’t lose vital security and intelligence information from other countries after they pulled out of SIS II.
“Instead that has clearly not happened, and it looks like it will now be delayed for years. The police badly need access to up-to-date criminal intelligence and security information including on cases where people are wanted for crimes abroad in order to keep Britain safe.
“Ministers should be working urgently with other European countries to get new security agreements in place.”
In a document uploaded last week to the Home Office website about the International Law Enforcement Alerts Platform, Rycroft said the department is in the longer term “focusing on a potential multilateral solution with the EU” but added it is not expected to be completed before the “FY [financial year] of 2027 to 2028”.
The UK joined SIS II in April 2015. It provided a mechanism for EU-member states to share and act on real-time data on persons and objects of interest including wanted and missing persons.
Using the system, Border Force staff and police were able to look up the names and identities of passengers, suspects of suspected trafficking victims in real time on handheld devices.
Deputy assistant commissioner Richard Martin, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, told MPs that in 2019 UK police checked SIS II “603m times”.
Following Brexit, the government was forced to disconnect from SIS II but maintained that it was seeking a future agreement on law enforcement cooperation between the UK and EU that provided “capabilities similar to those delivered by SIS II”.
The government is developing a new system – called the International Law Enforcement Alerts Platform, or I-LEAP – through which UK authorities can tap into information from Interpol, the international organisation. It is estimated to cost around £90m over 10 years.
Police sources told the Guardian that the Interpol system is working, but it is considerably slower, and is therefore not being used as often to check on suspects’ credentials.
The Home Office has insisted that the use of Interpol data is working well and that there is no risk to public safety.
Despite this, Rycroft wrote that the government is still seeking access to EU data, referred to as “Phase 2” in the document, and believes an EU proposal for reciprocal access to data on security might be published by the end of this year.
“We now understand the EU Commission proposal may be published in late 2023. If adopted, this approach would offer considerably greater benefit than the previous approach as an EU-wide solution could offer reciprocal, direct and real-time access to security-related alerts between the UK and all EU-member states,” he wrote.
Acknowledging the delay, he wrote: “The timeline for delivery has been extended for Phase 2 to reflect the known complexities of engaging at an EU-wide level and the length of time it would take to negotiate and secure agreement on a potential solution with the EU.
“Whilst this represents an increase to the overall programme timeline, the ability to receive international alerts from all EU-member states will deliver a substantially greater level of mutual benefit.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We continue to exchange information with EU member States on persons of interest, including missing and wanted individuals, using the Interpol system, as we did before using SIS II in 2015. We are investing in I-Leap to further enhance the UK’s connectivity to Interpol by providing UK law enforcement with real-time access to Interpol alerts about persons and objects.”
