UK Airport staff avoid crime checks
 

Foreign workers who work airside at UK airports do not have to undergo full mandatory criminal records checks, the BBC's Newsnight has discovered.

Since 2003, staff have been checked against UK criminal records, but offences abroad are not covered.

Aviation Minister Jim Fitzpatrick has defended vetting procedures for staff. "Anybody who is able to work in a restricted zone is screened in exactly the same thorough way as any member of the public," he added.

So ... if airside staff are screened the same as Pax - how come I did not notice them running the criminal background check? This is a classic from a govt minister - he sets out to reassure and answers a question that was not asked thus confirming that it is as bad as we think! Full story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7389219.stm

PAXboy
 

Discussion on this has already started at the back end of the "Frustated pilots and security thread".

To add my twopence worth (again)..if the Minister feels security has not been compromised because Ramp staff are screened to the same standard as pax then using the same logic lets drop the whole CRC process for UK resident airline employees.

Secondly there a h**k of a lot of non-UK residents flying as crewmembers onboard UK registered aircraft. How do the politicians think they are going to "solve" the problem of Criminal record checks across national boundaries?

Finally - where have the likes of Shoey and the other Journo's been? This glitch in the whole UK CRC process has been known about, and grumbled about, since it's inception years ago.

Rgds

Wiggy, a non-UK resident UK Airline Crew Member :eek: