In 2016–17 there were an average of 7,670 full-time Border Force officers, a reduction from the 8,332 officers employed in 2014–15. The reduction in officers has meant members of staff being diverted regularly from customs operations to the priority service of immigration control.
In the 2017 civil service staff survey Border Force scored second lowest of all parts of government for acceptable workload and just three out of ten officials described it as a “great place to work”.Mike Jones described “constantly [getting] messages from people saying morale is at an absolute all-time low [ … ] They’ve never seen it so bad.”In his 2017 inspection of Gatwick airport the Independent Chief Inspector reported that operations appeared to be under considerable strain overall with some groups of staff feeling undervalued.He found Border Force to be overly reliant on mobile and seasonal staff who have limited training. He told us the same was true at Stansted airport and elsewhere.
The ICIBI’s inspection of east coast sea ports revealed that “coverage of smaller, normally unmanned, east coast ports and landing places was poor, with almost half of them not having had a visit from a Border Force officer for more than a year.” In response to our report on customs operations, the Home Office stated that “workflow is actively monitored to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand at the border.” The evidence we have received would suggest that this is not the case, and Home Office policy is not to release data on staff presence at key ports of entry.
We are increasingly alarmed about the impact that inadequate resources are having on the capacity for Border Force to operate effectively. This is a system which has not functioned properly for a number of years, in large part due to insufficient staffing. The consequences of a lack of resources have implications for the smooth operation of the border, the morale and wellbeing of staff, and the quality of frontline immigration services.
All of this is taken verbatim from the
Parliament Business, Home Office delivery of Brexit: immigration which is available in the link below. I might add that the extra 1000 staff promised does not take into account current vacancies or the expected leavers (retirements, changing career etc.) It is being dressed up as a solution to the projected issue of customs checks.
Source:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmhaff/421/42105.htm