Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the total number of full time equivalent staff currently employed within the Small Boats Operational Command; how many new members of staff have joined the Small Boats Operational Command since 31 January 2023; and when she expects to meet her target to recruit 700 new members of staff to Small Boats Operational Command.

For security reasons, we do not give out figures of how many staff are working at a given time or location.

The latest published staffing figures for Border Force can be found in the Home Office Annual Report for 2021-2022 Home Office annual report and accounts: 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).