Customs and Excise

HC Deb 14 June 1993 vol 226 cc397-8W

Mrs. Ewing

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many Customs and Excise officers were employed in Scotland at the last available date; and what were the comparable figures for the same dates in 1988 and 1983;

(2) how many customs officers at each of the Scottish airports are designated specifically for drugs duties; and how many serve at each airport at any given time;

(3) what measures are being taken to search hold baggage arriving at domestic halls at Scottish airports which have been interlined by passengers transferring from international flights at Heathrow or Gatwick from other destinations.

Sir John Cope

The following numbers of Customs and Excise officers were employed in Scotland over the relevant period:

	Number
30 April 1993	1,666.5
30 April 1988	1,780.5
30 April 1983	2,078.0

The number of officers shown below have an anti-smuggling role at the Scottish airports, but this is not confined exclusively to drug duties. It also covers other aspects of smuggling and other prohibitions and restrictions:

	Number
Edinburgh	11
Glasgow	32
Aberdeen	20

The deployment of anti-smuggling staff at any given time will vary according to the perceived risk of a particular flight. This is part of a strategy which has moved staff away from predictable static controls to a more mobile and flexible approach targeted at areas of highest risk.

The anti-smuggling staff can also be augmented, when necessary, by staff from elsewhere in the executive units who are normally deployed on other duties. In addition, specialist intelligence teams are used in each area.

Following the introduction of the single market on 1 January 1993, revised arrangements under the European Community baggage regulation enable hold baggage consigned from outside the Commmunity to be cleared at the final destination in the EC. Special measures are taken to identify hold baggage interlined by passengers travelling from international flights at Heathrow and Gatwick. These enable full examination of baggage to be made by customs, where necessary, at the final point of destinations.

Customs checks are increasingly based on the indentification of targets through the use of intelligence and risk indicators.

This highly selective and unobtrusive approach is in no way diminished at those locations where examination of baggage takes place in domestic facilities.