Commentary on Sections Authority-to-carry scheme Section 124: Authority to carry
295.Section 124 makes provision for the Authority – to-carry (ATC) scheme. This will enable the Secretary of State to operate a scheme, which requires carriers to seek authority for bringing passengers to the United Kingdom. It is envisaged that a scheme or schemes will require them to do so by checking the details of passengers travelling to the United Kingdom against information held on a Home Office database to confirm that they pose no known immigration or security risk and to confirm that their documents are in order. This will take place before the passenger embarks for the United Kingdom.
296.Subsection (1) allows the Secretary of State to make regulations requiring a carrier who brings a person to the United Kingdom to pay a penalty if they do not seek authority to carry a person, or if they carry a person even though authority has been refused, when required to do so.
297.Subsection (3) provides that ATC may be applied to any class of carrier or passenger and subsection (4) allows the Secretary of State to operate different ATC schemes for different purposes.
298.Subsections (6) and (7) provide that the regulations made under this section may mirror or amend carrier’s liability legislation, which concerns people arriving in the United Kingdom without valid travel documents or visas.
299.Subsection (8) provides that a decision as to whether to grant authority under the scheme does not indicate whether the person is entitled or permitted to enter the United Kingdom.