Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her department's policy is on (a) engines, (b) boats and (c) life jackets recovered from irregular migrant arrivals; and what the cost to the public purse was of the (i) storage of, (ii) destruction of and (iii) other process applied to such equipment in each year since 2018.

All vessels that have been subject to seizure are held by Border Force until completion of any criminal investigation activities. The majority of boats are not fit for re-sale or to ever go to sea again, as they arrive in very poor condition and may be damaged during the recovery process.

The boats are disposed of by Border Force’s approved contractors and, where appropriate, any suitable materials are recycled. Regarding the costs of storage, destruction and other process applied to the equipment listed, this information is not available in an accessible format and can therefore not be provided.