Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff were employed in Border Force in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The latest published staffing and finance figures for Border Force can be found in the Home Office Annual Report for 2020-2025 at:
HO annual report and accounts 2020-25 (Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK)
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the ability of airports to complete full customs checks on small packages imported from abroad in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Border Force work closely with law enforcement partners to share intelligence and have a strong track record in targeting illicit commodities via a threat and intelligence led approach; and we continue to examine goods brought into the UK by passengers are appropriately declared and abide by customs and excise rules. Border Force has an excellent relationship with airport security personnel nationally, ensuring they are aware and able to identify potential smuggling risks. If, when carrying out their security function, airline staff identify a person who may be of interest to Border Force, they will share that information, allowing Border Force Officers (BFOs) to take appropriate action. Border Force examines thousands of parcels arriving into the UK every day as part of Border Security checks. Border Force has had a record-breaking year in terms of seizures, highlighting our ability to complete high volumes of checks, with data available via Migration transparency data - GOV.UK
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the potential impact of airport staffing on the ability of airports to complete customs checks on small packages imported from abroad.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Border Force has an intelligence-led approach to how it assesses the many threats to the UK Border and is robust in how it deploys resource. Border Force operates a flexible resourcing model, regularly assessing operational needs and deploying staff dynamically in response to passenger volumes, security requirements and developing threats.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of border security measures at (a) ports and (b) airports in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Border Force performs checks on 100% of passengers arriving at the UK border on scheduled services, enabling interventions against those known or suspected to pose a risk to the national interest.
The UK and Ireland have a close and collaborative relationship on migration and border security, and we are jointly committed to protecting the Common Travel Area and safeguarding it from abuse.
Officers who work on the primary control ensure that all passengers are dealt with efficiently as possible to ensure border security. We also use dynamic deployment to staff the immigration control when required.
The UK’s border and immigration system is changing. We are transforming our border through automation and digitisation to make it quicker and more secure for the millions of people who pass through each year.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to reduce the number of illegal tobacco and vaping products on sale in North Shropshire.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to reducing the number of illicit tobacco and vaping products on sale nationally.
For tobacco, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a robust strategy to tackle the illicit tobacco trade. HMRC works closely with Trading Standards to disrupt the illicit tobacco trade at retail level – known as Operation CeCe. In its first three years, more than 46 million illegal cigarettes and 12,600kg of hand-rolling tobacco were seized.
In July 2023, HM Revenue and Customs introduced a strengthened sanctions regime for breaches of the UK Tobacco Track and Trace System to combat illicit tobacco sales. New powers were also given to Trading Standards to make referrals to HMRC where they find evidence of high street retailers selling tobacco products that do not comply with the UK Tobacco Track and Trace System.
In January 2024, HMRC and Border Force published their latest illicit tobacco strategy, ‘Stubbing Out the Problem’. This sets out the Governments’ continued commitment to restrict the trade in illicit tobacco with a focus on reducing demand, and to tackle and disrupt organised crime groups. This strategy is supported by £100 million of new smokefree funding allocated over 5 years to boost existing HMRC and Border Force enforcement capability.
As with tobacco, there is a cross-government approach to reducing the number of illegal vapes. The vaping equivalent of Operation CeCe, Operation Joseph, led to the seizure of over 1 million illegal vapes in 2023-24, the last full year for which statistics are available.
HMRC are also working closely with both Trading Standards and Border Force to develop a robust compliance approach for the introduction of Vaping Products Duty (VPD) on 1 October 2026.
VPD is a new excise duty on vaping products, which will introduce additional compliance powers and controls across the vaping supply chain. This includes the introduction of a Vaping Duty Stamps (VDS) scheme, which will require highly secure stamps to be placed on all duty paid goods, supporting enforcement agencies and customers to identify illegal products.
HMRC are recruiting over 300 staff to strengthen this compliance approach and deliver VPD.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Border Force staff have been allocated to fast parcels in each of the last 10 financial years.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
As an intelligence-informed organisation, Border Force do not disclose specific details regarding the deployment of resources to individual border threats. This is to ensure the integrity of our operations, and avoid compromising the effectiveness of our security response, which is based upon real time intelligence and operational sensitivity.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) travel and (b) other costs were of back filling shortfalls in Border Force staff in 2024; and how many (i) posts and (ii) hours of time were backfilled.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There was no shortfall in Border Force staffing against its budgeted headcount in 2024; as such, there were no additional travel nor other costs incurred specifically for backfilling staff, and no posts nor hours required backfilling.
Border Force operates a flexible resourcing model, regularly assessing operational needs and deploying staff dynamically in response to passenger volumes and security requirements. Maintaining the security and efficiency of the UK border remains a top priority, and we continue to allocate resources accordingly to ensure the smooth flow of passengers and goods.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what level of access do Border Force staff have to the Police National Database.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Border Force does not routinely disclose operationally sensitive information, as to do so has the potential to prejudice law enforcement and the operation of immigration controls.
However, Border Force continue to work closely with law enforcement partners as necessary to share intelligence and protect UK security.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were employed by Border Force in each month in 2024.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The total number of people employed by Border Force is routinely published within the annual Home Office annual reports and accounts, available at Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2024 to Question 18824 on UK Border Force: Seasonal Workers, what steps her Department has taken to mitigate the potential loss of capacity provided by the Border Force seasonal workforce.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Border Force’s seasonal workforce staff were recruited on fixed-term contracts to assist at the UK Border, covering shifts when operationally required, such as during peak periods of travel, and subject to their availability. These contracts utilised an authorised exception for short-term recruitment into the Civil Service.
Following an ongoing review of the recruitment process by the Civil Service Commission, Border Force has ceased to use these contracts and now recruits through a regular Civil Service recruitment process. All seasonal workforce staff on existing fixed-term contracts have been invited to apply through this recruitment process.
Our operational priority remains the protection of our border security, and this change will not affect the capacity of Border Force to deliver on that priority.