Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of trade and biosecurity controls at the ports of Cairnryan and Stranraer.
Answered by David Duguid
Through the Port Infrastructure Fund, the UK Government has provided over £600,000 to Cairnryan and Loch Ryan to build the infrastructure needed for customs and biosecurity checks.
And while biosecurity is the responsibility of the Scottish Government, our two Governments work together to ensure that biosecurity is maintained.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2021 to Question 903227 on Ports: Scotland, what additional resources have been deployed by the Border Force at Scottish ports since the Northern Ireland Protocol came into effect on 1 January 2021.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Information relating to the wider staffing in the Home Office including Border Force, for the year 2019-20 is below:
Home Office annual report and accounts: 2019 to 2020
The Home Office Annual reports and accounts for 2020 to 2021 will be published in due course.
Border Force regularly reviews its capacity plans and resources. Redeploying and recruiting staff where necessary to help meet and maintain service standards for individual services.
Border Force is confident that resources to meet anticipated overall operational requirements are in place with Border Force recruiting sufficient additional frontline staff and continuing to build staffing levels during 2020/2021.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on resources deployed at Scottish ports to help manage the movement of goods since the Northern Ireland Protocol came into effect on 1 January 2021.
Answered by David Duguid
The Secretary of State for Scotland holds regular conversations with Cabinet colleagues regarding the implications of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
This Government is unequivocal in its commitment to ensuring unfettered access for Northern Ireland goods moving to the rest of the UK and will ensure the required resources are deployed at Scottish ports.