Border Force Budget 2016-17

Lord Hughes of Woodside Excerpts

Wednesday 20th April 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I remind my noble friend that, as I have already said, the Border Force works very closely with all agencies, including the police and the National Crime Agency. This ensures that we have a robust approach, with joined-up thinking and sharing of intelligence. Of course, we work with our European partners to ensure that, where there are any concerns on access and illegal entry to the United Kingdom, be it by water or air, we meet that challenge robustly. The message must be clear that our borders are robust: we will prevent those who seek to enter illegally, including those who seek to spread terror in this country or elsewhere in Europe. Together, through sharing of intelligence, we are facing that challenge head-on.

[Lord Hughes of Woodside (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister has twice refused to answer a direct question this afternoon. He said that he cannot comment on matters of how the department works. He also said that he cannot tell us how many people are employed. Neither of those things can be state secrets. How many officers are in fact employed?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, the issue that I said I could not reply to specifically was the issue of our coastal waters, their protection and the operational capacity there. I am sure that the noble Lord, when he reflects on that, will see that it is important that we retain the sanctity of ensuring our operational capability. After all, otherwise, we are opening that up to open transparency for anyone who is seeking to influence and get into the UK. We need to ensure that we meet the challenge of illegal immigration. The noble Lord asked for specific numbers. As I have said, the Statement which I have repeated on behalf of the Home Secretary acknowledged that there is a reduction in the resource budget of 0.4%. That will result in our ensuring that wherever shortages are met there is flexibility in the workforce. I do not think that I was avoiding the question; I just said that I am not going to get specifically into the numbers game.