§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how he estimates the new investment announced for Customs will improve the service at(a) Newhaven, (b) Poole, (c) Isle of Wight, (d) Portsmouth and (e) Southampton; and if he will make a statement. [127148]
§ John HealeyThe investment will be used by Customs to deploy new technology and extra operational activity at ports and airports to strengthen security at the UK frontier.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest assessment of the total cost per year is of employing mobile Customs teams to cover the ports of Newhaven, Poole and the Isle of Wight rather than a limited permanent presence; and if he will make a statement. [127150]
§ John HealeyFor the fiscal year 2003–04, the current allocation of funds to cover travel and subsistence costs for Customs detection south region, which includes Newhaven, Poole and the Isle of Wight, is £1.7 million.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what factors underlay the decision to remove the permanent Customs presence from Poole, the Isle of 99W Wight and Newhaven ports; if he will perform a risk analysis of these plans; if he will overturn the decision; and if he will make a statement. [127151]
§ John HealeyTo meet the challenge of modern smugglers, Customs across the UK are changing their tactics and becoming more intelligence-led and less predictable. While it is important o maintain a level of deterrence at all locations—both at high-traffic, high-risk ports or airports, and at smaller, lower-risk locations—Customs cannot provide an effective detection capability nor any meaningful deterrence with small numbers of staff on regular and predictable rotas. Flexible, mobile teams can be deployed in larger numbers and with greater impact. Customs managers use risk assessment when deploying these teams to locations in the south and south west where they will have the greater impact on smuggling.
§ Ms AthertonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff will be allocated to the flexible customs team to be located at Plymouth under the Customs and Excise Business Plan; what their terms of reference will be; and what the team's(a) average and (b) maximum response times are expected to be. [127301]
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of days per year that the proposed mobile Customs teams will be able to have a presence in(a) Newhaven, (b) Poole and (c) Isle of Wight ports. [127149]
§ John HealeyCustoms do not normally make available information concerning the deployment of operational law enforcement staff. Exemptions 4(b) and 7(b) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information apply.
§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about HM Customs and Excise operations in(a) Chester, (b) Pembroke and (c) Swansea. [127408]
§ John HealeyCustoms and Excise law enforcement operations in Chester, Pembroke and Swansea will be intelligence-led, supported by flexible, mobile teams. Customs also have offices in these locations undertaking a range of VAT, International Trade and Excise work.
§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the use of mobile teams in the work of HM Customs and Excise. [127410]
§ John HealeyExperience demonstrates that flexible mobile teams allow Customs to deploy officers in larger numbers, less predictably and with greater impact, to any area of the UK, wherever intelligence identifies a risk.
§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the value of goods seized by HM Customs in(a) 2002 and (b) 2003. [127946]
§ John HealeyCustoms record e goods they seize by quantity not value. Many seized goods do not have a specific monetary value and an aggregate figure for the value of all goods seized by Customs is therefore not available.