Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to track the use of funding allocated to French policing operations relating to the treatment of people seeking asylum.

The United Kingdom provides funding to support the French Government and authorities with the clear purpose of preventing dangerous small boat crossings and tackling organised immigration crime. This work is explicitly focused on saving lives by stopping people from attempting perilous Channel crossings and by bearing down on the criminal gangs who profit from a business model that exploits vulnerable people.

Oversight of the funding includes regular engagement at ministerial and official level, agreed delivery plans, performance reporting and ongoing assessment of the impact of funded activity. The Home Office works closely and routinely with the French authorities to monitor delivery and to ensure that funding is used for its intended purposes, working in partnership with France to protect lives, dismantle people smuggling networks and strengthen border security.