Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of the 50,000 additional UK customs agents required after the end of the transition period have been recruited so far; and how many have completed their training.

The UK has a well-established industry of customs intermediaries which serve British businesses trading outside the EU. The sector is varied and made up of a number of different business models including specific customs brokers, freight forwarders and fast parcel operators; all of which will require varied numbers of staff. Government support of £34m has been designed flexibly to meet the needs of the sector to build capacity by covering training and IT innovation, as well as recruitment.

This funding has led to almost 20,000 applications for customs training courses with providers. These courses will teach all the necessary skills required to handle customs declarations, and include the online UK Customs Academy founded by HMRC.

HMRC do not employ customs agents/customs intermediaries directly and the 50,000 figure is an industry calculation.