Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's news story entitled Immigration enforcement surge since pledge to tackle illegal working, published on 23 January 2023, what the timescales are for the planned recruitment of 200 new Immigration Enforcement staff; which unit within Immigration Enforcement those staff will be recruited to; and whether the planned 200 new Immigration Enforcement staff are included in the target to recruit 700 new staff to the Small Boats Operational Command, announced by the Prime Minister on 13 December 2022.

A campaign for 200 criminal and financial investigators within Immigration Enforcement will launch next month. We expect these officers to be in post by the summer. These roles are not part of the 700 new staff being recruited into the Small Boats Operational Command.