Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to WPQ17732, to provide detail on how many occasions UK Border Force have used these powers in Northern Ireland; to include (a) the number of vehicle searches (b) number of bus/coach inspections and (c) the number of maritime boardings.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
It is longstanding Home Office policy to not disclose location specific staffing information, as to do so could compromise operational effectiveness. Resources in Northern Ireland, including Inland Immigration Enforcement, form part of a wider UK-wide operational model, with deployments kept under continual review in response to intelligence, risk and operational demand. As part of the Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangements, the UK does not operate routine immigration controls on individuals arriving in the UK by air or sea from within the CTA, and no immigration checks are undertaken at the land border with Ireland. The UK does, however, operate intelligence-led operational activity on CTA routes - away from the land border.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK Border Force Officers are permanently deployed in Northern Ireland and how many officers are dedicated to inland immigration enforcement.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
It is longstanding Home Office policy to not disclose location specific staffing information, as to do so could compromise operational effectiveness. Resources in Northern Ireland, including Inland Immigration Enforcement, form part of a wider UK-wide operational model, with deployments kept under continual review in response to intelligence, risk and operational demand. As part of the Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangements, the UK does not operate routine immigration controls on individuals arriving in the UK by air or sea from within the CTA, and no immigration checks are undertaken at the land border with Ireland. The UK does, however, operate intelligence-led operational activity on CTA routes - away from the land border.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 15 July to Question 17732 on Immigration Controls, how many illegal entrants have been detected using these powers in Northern Ireland; how many have subsequently been detained; and how many have subsequently been deported.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
It is longstanding Home Office policy to not disclose location specific staffing information, as to do so could compromise operational effectiveness. Resources in Northern Ireland, including Inland Immigration Enforcement, form part of a wider UK-wide operational model, with deployments kept under continual review in response to intelligence, risk and operational demand. As part of the Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangements, the UK does not operate routine immigration controls on individuals arriving in the UK by air or sea from within the CTA, and no immigration checks are undertaken at the land border with Ireland. The UK does, however, operate intelligence-led operational activity on CTA routes - away from the land border.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to WPQ17732, how many occasions these powers have been used within 3 miles of the land border between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
It is longstanding Home Office policy to not disclose location specific staffing information, as to do so could compromise operational effectiveness. Resources in Northern Ireland, including Inland Immigration Enforcement, form part of a wider UK-wide operational model, with deployments kept under continual review in response to intelligence, risk and operational demand. As part of the Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangements, the UK does not operate routine immigration controls on individuals arriving in the UK by air or sea from within the CTA, and no immigration checks are undertaken at the land border with Ireland. The UK does, however, operate intelligence-led operational activity on CTA routes - away from the land border.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to WPQ17732, to detail on how many occasions these powers have been exercised jointly with PSNI in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
It is longstanding Home Office policy to not disclose location specific staffing information, as to do so could compromise operational effectiveness. Resources in Northern Ireland, including Inland Immigration Enforcement, form part of a wider UK-wide operational model, with deployments kept under continual review in response to intelligence, risk and operational demand. As part of the Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangements, the UK does not operate routine immigration controls on individuals arriving in the UK by air or sea from within the CTA, and no immigration checks are undertaken at the land border with Ireland. The UK does, however, operate intelligence-led operational activity on CTA routes - away from the land border.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many third country asylum applications have been handled in Northern Ireland in each of the last 5 calendar years, following the applicants having been in the UK for 6 months and 1 day.
Answered by Alex Norris - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Obtaining the specific information requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple systems owned by multiple teams across the Home Office and, therefore, could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The safety and security of the United Kingdom is this government’s top priority. We work closely with the Irish government to stop illegal migrants and foreign national offenders exploiting the Common Travel Area.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what powers UK Border Force has to stop, board and inspect vehicles, public transport, buses and boats for immigration purposes.
Answered by Mike Tapp
Border Force officers have a range of powers to stop, board, examine and search vehicles and vessels for immigration purposes.
Under Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971, immigration officers may board ships and aircraft in connection with the exercise of their immigration functions. They may also search vehicles or containers that have been brought to, or are to be brought to, the United Kingdom by ship, aircraft or train for the purpose of establishing whether there are persons whom they may wish to examine under the Act. These examination powers apply in respect of passengers travelling by private vehicle, public transport, coach, bus, rail, air and maritime services.
In the maritime environment, the Immigration Act 2016 included Part 3A and Schedule 4A, expanding the Immigration Act 1971 to include provide powers, in specified circumstances and where relevant immigration offences are suspected, to stop, board, divert and detain vessels for the purpose of preventing, detecting, investigating or prosecuting such offences.
The exercise of all Border Force powers is subject to the relevant statutory framework and operational guidance.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times UK Border Force has exercised powers to stop, board and inspect vehicles, public transport, buses and boats for immigration purposes in each of the last five calendar years.
Answered by Mike Tapp
The Home Office does not hold centrally collated data on the number of occasions Border Force has exercised powers to stop, board and inspect vehicles, public transport, buses and boats for immigration purposes in each of the last five calendar years.
Border Force officers have powers under immigration legislation to stop, board, examine and search vehicles and vessels for immigration purposes. These powers are exercised routinely as part of day-to-day border operations and are not routinely recorded or centrally collated in a way that would enable the Department to provide the figures requested.
While Border Force maintains operational records relating to passengers and immigration checks, it does not hold data on the number of vehicles or vessels examinations undertaken.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any guidance exists for each Constabulary on the number of candidates they recommend to the College of Policing’s Executive Leadership Programme in any given year to assist with professional development and succession in leadership.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to ensuring there is strong and consistent leadership across policing and a pipeline of diverse and talented candidates for chief officer appointments. The College of Policing’s Executive Leaders Programme aims to open up access to a wide pool of officers, who have the skills, experience and potential to become chief officers, ready for substantive appointment to a chief officer role.
Neither the Home Office nor the College of Policing issues guidance to police forces on the specific number of candidates they should recommend to the Executive Leaders Programme. Recruitment is managed locally by individual police forces, following national guidelines and the application, assessment, and selection framework set by the College of Policing.
The Home Office does not collect data on the number of candidates attending and completing the Executive Leaders Programme.
The College of Policing has undertaken a review of the effectiveness of the Executive Leaders Programme, which was carried out in 2023-2024 on the first two cohorts. Based on the recommendations of the review, further improvements were communicated to forces and implemented in subsequent cohorts of the programme by the College of Policing.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many candidates from Police Service Northern Ireland successfully completed the College of Policing’s Executive Leadership Programme since 2023.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to ensuring there is strong and consistent leadership across policing and a pipeline of diverse and talented candidates for chief officer appointments. The College of Policing’s Executive Leaders Programme aims to open up access to a wide pool of officers, who have the skills, experience and potential to become chief officers, ready for substantive appointment to a chief officer role.
Neither the Home Office nor the College of Policing issues guidance to police forces on the specific number of candidates they should recommend to the Executive Leaders Programme. Recruitment is managed locally by individual police forces, following national guidelines and the application, assessment, and selection framework set by the College of Policing.
The Home Office does not collect data on the number of candidates attending and completing the Executive Leaders Programme.
The College of Policing has undertaken a review of the effectiveness of the Executive Leaders Programme, which was carried out in 2023-2024 on the first two cohorts. Based on the recommendations of the review, further improvements were communicated to forces and implemented in subsequent cohorts of the programme by the College of Policing.