Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle organised immigration crime.

Since entering office, we have already launched the Border Security Command (BSC), led by Martin Hewitt CBE QPM, with £150m invested over this financial year and next.

The Border Security Command will act as the system leader across HMG leveraging functions across policy, operations, international engagement and uplifted capabilities to tackle organised immigration crime, driven by outcome focussed, system-wide plans.

Since the establishment of the Border Security Command, successes against organised immigration crime include:

• NCA’s continued successful operations and arrests against prolific people smugglers
• Commitment to up to 100 new specialist intelligence and investigations officers deployed to the NCA
• the recent agreement with Iraq and the Kurdish Region of Iraq to target people smuggling gangs and strengthen border security co-operation
• the joint action plan with Germany to collaboratively break the business model of people smuggling gangs.