Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the current status is of the Border Systems Programme (BSP); what the timescale is for tendering and choosing suppliers; and when the BSP is expected to be developed and rolled out.

James Brokenshire

The e-Borders programme has been incorporated within the Border Systems’ scope
of work. Border Systems now assumes responsibility for the Warnings Index and
the wider Border Force portfolio of technology projects. Border Systems will
build on the foundations of the e-Borders programme, strengthening even further
our border security.

The procurement approach to replacing the primary border security elements of
the Border Systems Programme will reflect broader Government ICT and Commercial
strategy, and there will be no single, large supplier. The Home Office will
lead development, with services procured from a range of providers, potentially
including small and medium enterprises.

By March 2015 the Border Systems Programme aims to:

• Complete resilience of all current business critical systems;
• Develop replacement primary border security systems;
• Provide additional capability to support commitments on exit checks;
• Establish a programme for the next generation of Radiological and Nuclear
detection (Cyclamen);
• Continue the implementation of second generation e-Gates across the estate;
• Develop and implement new freight targeting capability for Sea Containers;
• Establish contracts to purchase new detection equipment;
• Continue to assure live operations of existing systems.