Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many full-time equivalent Border Force officers were assigned to customs functions at airports in each year from 2020 to 2026.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The security of the UK border is Border Force's number one priority. Border Force operates a flexible resourcing model, regularly assessing deployments against operational requirements and emerging border security threats. Officers are deployed dynamically to ensure that critical customs, immigration and security functions are delivered effectively.
Border Force does not publish information on the number of officers assigned to specific operational functions or locations. Releasing such information could reveal operational practices and capabilities, increasing the risk of those seeking to evade customs controls and potentially undermining border security.
Border Force continues to deliver strong enforcement outcomes against illicit goods and organised crime. In the year ending March 2025, Border Force seized record volumes of drugs, demonstrating the effectiveness of our operational approach and targeted deployment of resources.
We keep our resourcing under constant review and will continue to deploy staff where they are needed most to protect the public and maintain the security of the UK border.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many customs examinations of (a) passengers and (b) accompanied baggage were conducted by Border Force at airports in each year from 2020 to 2026.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not publish and does not routinely collect statistics on the number of customs examinations of passengers and accompanied baggage undertaken by Border Force.
Border Force conducts thousands of customs interventions and examinations each year using a threat and intelligence-led approach. The Department does not routinely record or collate statistics on individual examinations, as this information is not required for operational or performance management purposes.
Border Force remains focused on identifying and stopping illicit goods and those seeking to circumvent customs controls.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of Border Force presence in customs halls in airports.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Border Force continually assesses its deployment of officers across the border to ensure resources are aligned to operational demands, intelligence and border security outcomes. Border Force operates a flexible resourcing model, enabling officers to be deployed dynamically in response to passenger volumes, customs risks and wider security requirements. This ensures an appropriate Border Force presence is maintained in customs halls at airports across the United Kingdom. The Government remains committed to maintaining a secure and effective border. Border Force continues to use a combination of officer deployment, intelligence-led activity, technology and close working with law enforcement partners to identify and disrupt illicit activity at the border.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Home Secretary, when her Department plans to publish the annual report on the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The first FIRS annual report will be laid in Parliament as soon as practicable. The report will set out, among other things, the number of registrations, the number of information notices issued, the number of persons charged with an offence and the number of persons convicted of an offence.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many civil servants in her Department are responsible for the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, including reviewing the compliance of entities related to the People’s Republic of China.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Government is focused on ensuring compliance with the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), including, where appropriate, referring cases to the police where we believe a criminal offence has been committed.
It would not be appropriate to provide details of registrations beyond those that appear on the public FIRS register, as doing so could identify information not intended to be published and undermine the scheme’s objectives. Registrations under the enhanced tier are not published unless they relate to political influence activities; there are also circumstances in which publication will not occur, for example where publication could create a risk to the safety or interests of the UK.
An annual report on the operation of FIRS will be laid before Parliament. This will include, among other things, the number of registrations under both tiers, the number of information notices issued, and the number of people charged and prosecuted for failing to comply with the scheme’s requirements. The first report will be published as soon as practicable after 30 June 2026.
Owing to security considerations, I am unable to provide specific details of the number of civil servants working on FIRS.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Government is focused on ensuring compliance with the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), including, where appropriate, referring cases to the police where we believe a criminal offence has been committed.
It would not be appropriate to provide details of registrations beyond those that appear on the public FIRS register, as doing so could identify information not intended to be published and undermine the scheme’s objectives. Registrations under the enhanced tier are not published unless they relate to political influence activities; there are also circumstances in which publication will not occur, for example where publication could create a risk to the safety or interests of the UK.
An annual report on the operation of FIRS will be laid before Parliament. This will include, among other things, the number of registrations under both tiers, the number of information notices issued, and the number of people charged and prosecuted for failing to comply with the scheme’s requirements. The first report will be published as soon as practicable after 30 June 2026.
Owing to security considerations, I am unable to provide specific details of the number of civil servants working on FIRS.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the reasons that no companies and organisations linked to the People's Republic of China have registered under the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme to date.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Government is focused on ensuring compliance with the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), including, where appropriate, referring cases to the police where we believe a criminal offence has been committed.
It would not be appropriate to provide details of registrations beyond those that appear on the public FIRS register, as doing so could identify information not intended to be published and undermine the scheme’s objectives. Registrations under the enhanced tier are not published unless they relate to political influence activities; there are also circumstances in which publication will not occur, for example where publication could create a risk to the safety or interests of the UK.
An annual report on the operation of FIRS will be laid before Parliament. This will include, among other things, the number of registrations under both tiers, the number of information notices issued, and the number of people charged and prosecuted for failing to comply with the scheme’s requirements. The first report will be published as soon as practicable after 30 June 2026.
Owing to security considerations, I am unable to provide specific details of the number of civil servants working on FIRS.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to identify and prosecute entities who should have registered under the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Government is focused on ensuring compliance with the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), including, where appropriate, referring cases to the police where we believe a criminal offence has been committed.
It would not be appropriate to provide details of registrations beyond those that appear on the public FIRS register, as doing so could identify information not intended to be published and undermine the scheme’s objectives. Registrations under the enhanced tier are not published unless they relate to political influence activities; there are also circumstances in which publication will not occur, for example where publication could create a risk to the safety or interests of the UK.
An annual report on the operation of FIRS will be laid before Parliament. This will include, among other things, the number of registrations under both tiers, the number of information notices issued, and the number of people charged and prosecuted for failing to comply with the scheme’s requirements. The first report will be published as soon as practicable after 30 June 2026.
Owing to security considerations, I am unable to provide specific details of the number of civil servants working on FIRS.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2026 to Question 472, whether any of the enhanced technical solutions and technological tools rely on Chinese (a) technology and (b) equipment.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
Policing is operationally independent of Government and decisions on procurement are taken by individual forces. However, Police are provided briefing and support by Government to understand and manage national security risks.
Separately, there are a range of tools to ensure that sensitive UK supply chains and technologies are suitable and safe.
This includes the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA). The NSIA provides the Government with powers to identify and, where necessary, intervene in acquisitions of entities or assets that may pose a threat to the UK’s national security.
Additionally, the Procurement Act 2023 provides Government powers to exclude and debar suppliers from public sector contracts where they are judged to pose a national security risk.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent people with known links to Chinese organised crime groups from being treated as community representatives by public bodies.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Government are absolutely committed to ensuring appropriate due diligence when making decisions on who to engage on particular issues.
More broadly, if individuals are linked to organised crime, we will pursue all avenues to ensure the perpetrators of crimes are brought to justice. We are also working closely with law enforcement partners to strengthen understanding of Chinese related organised crime activity in the UK.