Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of how many (a) pleasure, (b) class XII and (c) other small vessels enter UK ports of entry each year without (i) passport and (ii) physical checks.

Border Force adopts an intelligence led approach to responding to General Maritime traffic. Border Force works with the National Crime Agency and other partners to identify threats from General Maritime traffic and uses
intelligence to intercept General Maritime craft that are attempting to smuggle contraband material or illegal immigrants into the country.


There is no current legal requirement for advance passenger information for the leisure sector of maritime traffic. Persons arriving directly from within the European Economic Area (EEA) on a pleasure craft are only required to notify
Border Force if they have a person onboard who is not a British Citizen or national of the EEA, or if they have goods to declare. It is therefore not possible to estimate the number of vessels that have entered UK ports that do not have a requirement to notify.