Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to ensure effective border control and management of illegal immigration, in particular addressing any gaps in enforcement or security protocols.

Due to the steps we have taken, small boat arrivals fell by 36% in 2023 compared to the previous year; Albanian arrivals were down by over 90%. This reflects our continuing work with the French Government to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossings from taking place.

Immigration Enforcement is taking robust action to tackle illegal migration through:

• returning more than 25,000 people in 2023 who have no right to be in the UK, including more than 5,700 Albanians;
• increasing the number of illegal working visits by over 68% as of September 2023, compared to the same period in 2022; and
• disrupting organised crime groups, resulting in 246 arrests of people smugglers in 2023.

In terms of security protocols, the government does not routinely comment on individual cases or operational matters.

Our highest priority is protecting the safety and security of this country, which is why the UK has world-class police, security and intelligence agencies and a robust counter-terrorism framework in place.

As you would expect, security checks are already undertaken for all those identified arriving through illegal migration routes and law enforcement have the powers to deal with them appropriately.