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Robert Brodie Clark CBE (born 16 June 1951) is a British civil servant who was head of the UK Border Force, a part of the UK Border Agency, until his resignation in November 2011.

Career

HM Prison Service

Brodie Clark started his career in Her Majesty's Prison Service in 1973 as assistant governor HM Borstal Wetherby, from 1977 to 1981 he was at Acklington prison and from 1981 to 1994 had appointments as governor at Gartree, Bedford prisons and in 1992 he successfully commissioned, opened and governed the New Generation Prison at Milton Keynes, Woodhill prison.

In 1994 he was appointed governor to the troubled Whitemoor top security jail. Later that year, six prisoners including Paul Magee and other IRA members, escaped from the prison's Special Secure Unit. All were immediately recaptured.

Suspension and resignation

The Home Office suspended Clark, and carried out a precautionary suspension for two of Clark's senior team: Carole Upshall, director of the Border Force South and Europe, and Graeme Kyle, director of operations at Heathrow Airport. The BBC reported that staff may have been told not to scan biometric passports at certain times. These contain a digital image of the holder's face which can be used to compare with the printed version and check the passport has not been forged. It is also believed that "warning index checks" at Heathrow Airport and the port of Calais, which would have applied strict security checks against official watchlists of terrorists, criminals, and deported illegal immigrants were also suspended.

Three investigations were subsequently commissioned:

• One by Dave Wood, ex-Metropolitan Police detective, the UKBA's head of enforcement and crime group. This was a two-week inquiry designed to discover to what extent checks were scaled down, and what the security implications might have been.
• One by Mike Anderson, an ex-MI6 official, director general of the strategy, immigration and international group at the Home Office. This was to investigate wider issues relating to the performance of UKBA.
• It was announced on 5 November 2011 by Theresa May that an independent inquiry would also be undertaken, led by the Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency, John Vine. Vine completed his report on 7 February 2012 and it was published on 20 February 2012.

In the event, the Anderson enquiry did not proceed. An additional and separate 'leak enquiry' was also commissioned into the circumstances around damaging and critical information and misinformation reaching the press about Clark and, separately, a draft of the Woods enquiry allegedly being provided to the press.

On 8 November 2011 Clark formally resigned from the UK Border Agency insisting that comments made by the Home Secretary, Theresa May amounted to constructive dismissal and that he would launch legal proceedings.

In mid-March 2012, it was reported that Clark had reached an out-of-court settlement with the Home Office, avoiding the need for both parties to go to an Employment Tribunal. It was also reported that under the settlement, neither Clark nor the Home Office admitted any liability or wrongdoing, and that the amount of the settlement would not be disclosed. It was further reported that while the sum of money paid to Mr Clark to settle the case was undisclosed, and that while the settlement might save time and legal costs for the Government, it also meant that the full account of what had happened, which had led to the UK Border Agency's being split in two, might never be disclosed.

On 26 July 2012, BBC News reported Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, as saying in hindsight that Clark's departure had been "totally unnecessary" and had happened because "everyone panicked". Vaz was further reported as saying that "the home secretary's decision to suspend the risk-based approach was wrong ... I think we need to leave it to experienced officers to decide whether or not they need to check everybody 100%".

Home Affairs Committee

The Home Affairs Committee took evidence from several of the people involved in Clark' suspension.

On 19 January 2012, the Committee published its report, Inquiry into the provision of UK Border Controls.

References

1. Cohen, Nick; Braid, Mary (11 September 1994). "Breakout jail feared loss of control". The Independent. London.
2. ^ "Head of UK border force Brodie Clark suspended". BBC News. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
3. ^ Alan Travis (26 July 2011). "Head of UK border force suspended". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
4. Chris Mason (5 November 2011). "Inquiry into border force passport check claims". BBC News. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
5. "Inspection report on border security checks, February 2012" (PDF).
6. Robin Brant Political correspondent (9 November 2011). "Border chief Brodie Clark steps down over checks row". BBC News. Retrieved 9 November 2011. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
7. "Brodie Clark: Ex-UKBA head settles legal dispute". BBC News. 16 March 2012.
8. Beckford, Martin (17 March 2012). "Brodie Clark receives £100,000 over Border Agency row – but no one is to blame". The Daily Telegraph. London.
9. "Theresa May should relax border checks, says Keith Vaz". BBC. 26 July 2012.
10. "Inquiry into the provision of UK Border Controls". publications.parliament.uk. 19 January 2012.

• 1951 births
• Living people
• British civil servants
• British prison governors
• Commanders of the Order of the British Empire