Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much (a) the UK Border Force and (b) HM Revenue and Customs spent on delivering the Government's tobacco smuggling strategy in each of the last five years.

The total spent by HMRC on delivering the Government’s strategy to tackle tobacco smuggling in each of the last five years is as follows:

Border Force cannot provide the information requested without incurring disproportionate costs.

Border Force adopts an intelligence led approach to all of its customs activities, including tackling tobacco smuggling so that its multi-functional resources can be deployed as effectively as possible in line with latest threat assessments.