Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many full-time equivalent Border Force officers were assigned to customs functions at airports in each year from 2020 to 2026.

The security of the UK border is Border Force's number one priority. Border Force operates a flexible resourcing model, regularly assessing deployments against operational requirements and emerging border security threats. Officers are deployed dynamically to ensure that critical customs, immigration and security functions are delivered effectively.

Border Force does not publish information on the number of officers assigned to specific operational functions or locations. Releasing such information could reveal operational practices and capabilities, increasing the risk of those seeking to evade customs controls and potentially undermining border security.

Border Force continues to deliver strong enforcement outcomes against illicit goods and organised crime. In the year ending March 2025, Border Force seized record volumes of drugs, demonstrating the effectiveness of our operational approach and targeted deployment of resources.

We keep our resourcing under constant review and will continue to deploy staff where they are needed most to protect the public and maintain the security of the UK border.