UK Immigration Seeks Tech Support, Development Partner For Border Crossing Systems

The UK's Home Office has launched a procurement for tech support and services to oversee border control and immigration via a contract estimated to be worth up to £195 million ($253 million).

A competition notice confirms the Home Office is looking for system management and development support partners for its Border Crossing system; its Borders Platforms unit; and Helios, which maintains and shares security watchlist data.

The existing applications run on diverse technological stacks and ... are expected to evolve over the next five years

Border Crossing is made up of Passenger Control Point (PCP) and allows Border Force officers to search passenger records using biometrics and documents. "In addition, checks take place on the passport chip to verify its validity. In the back-office BX Tools allows Border Force officers to investigate passengers more thoroughly, either before, during or after they have crossed the border," the procurement document states.

Meanwhile, "Borders Platforms is responsible for building and maintaining the hybrid platform which enables tenant teams (currently Crossing the Border service) to effectively develop and run current and future services that keep the UK border operational," it adds.

The tender is split into three lots. The first, valued at a maximum of £120 million ($155 million), is looking for a system management and development partner to "run, maintain and improve the Border crossing and Helios systems within an integrated product ecosystem."

A spokesperson at the Home Office told The Register: "Helios has successfully gone live. We are now in the process of decommissioning our previous system, the Warnings Index."

The second lot is seeking a system management and development partner to run, maintain and improve the Borders Platforms which sits within the Migration and Border Technology Portfolio. It is valued at a maximum of £50 million ($65 million).

Lastly, the Home Office is on the hunt for a tech support vendor to provide level two support for its central systems, ensuring 24 hours a day, 365 days a year operation. "The existing applications run on diverse technological stacks and have been delivered over a three-year programme and are expected to evolve over the next five years in line with government policy and operational need," the notice states.

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The contracts are expected to last four years, with an option to extend for a year.

The introduction of new technology at UK borders has been beset with delays and increasing budgets.

In 2020, spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) said the Home Office had added £336 million ($436 million) to the cost of running its border management IT systems as delays and uncertainty dogged the program.

The report came after the Home Office reset the program in July 2019, having failed to meet deadlines or achieve value for money in its 2014-2019 Digital Services at the Border programme, the NAO said. ®