Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many staff are employed by Border Force; whether that number has decreased in the past year; and what assessment they have made of whether Border Force has sufficient immigration officers to operate effectively.

This Government has always made the integrity of the UK border a priority and we will never compromise on keeping the people of this country safe from terrorism, criminality and illegal immigration.

We have pursued an ambitious programme of reform at the border to keep this country safe. Border Force has transformed its working practises, command and control and leadership. And we have invested in new technology, like e-Gates at airports and heartbeat monitors at freight ports, to improve security and prevent illegal entry to the UK to improve security, benefit passengers and deliver efficiencies.

These reforms are working. Border security has been enhanced. Border Force continues to perform 100 per cent checks on scheduled passengers arriving in the UK.

Deployments are made across a wide range of activities based on levels of demand and intelligence and will take into consideration the requirement for deployment of a flexible seasonal workforce, which is prone to fluctuations depending on seasonal pressures.