Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many days did each of the Border Force's (a) five cutters and (b) six coastal patrol vessels spend (i) out of service due to scheduled repair and maintenance and (ii) on active duty supporting small boat operations in the Dover straits in 2023.

During 2023, the Cutter & CPV fleet did not provide assistance to small boat operations in the South East region.

Instead, Border Force utilised a fleet of 5 Commercial Transfer Vessels (CTVs) - Defender, Hurricane, Ranger, Typhoon and Volunteer.

Out of the 604 small boat events that occurred in 2023, the CTVs successfully intercepted 544, accounting for a 90% interception rate, the remaining interceptions were carried out by the RNLI due to asset suitability in deteriorating weather conditions.

This framework in the South East allows the Cutter & CPV fleet to focus on maritime enforcement deployments around the UK.