Written questions by Davies.

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.

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.

What the budget was for the seasonal workforce for Border Force in 2024.

The budget for Border Force’s Seasonal Workforce was £9.424m for calendar year 2024.

On how many occasions waiting time targets were exceeded at major points of entry in 2024.

The specific data requested is not available in an accessible format but below are the relevant statistics taken from Border Force’s transparency data.Of the 832,739 queue samples measured across the UK in 2024, 97.55% of queues were within Border Force’s service standards above the 95% target. These service standards are 25 mins EU/EEA and 45 mins non-EU/EEA.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/682b149302662c6f8ec24411/border-force-transparency-data-q1-2025.ods (tab BF01).

How many officers were contracted in the seasonal workforce within Border Force in 2024.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 23 July to Question 68251.

How many former seasonal workforce officers were offered permanent positions after their contacts ended prior to 2024; and how many vacancies there were for them in 2024.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 23 July to PQ UIN 68079.

What timetable she has set to introduce domestic abuse experts in 999 control rooms.

From early this year, under a new approach named ‘Raneem’s Law’, domestic abuse specialists will begin to be embedded in 999 control rooms to advise on risk assessments, work with officers on the ground and ensure that victims are referred to appropriate support services swiftly. Exact timings will be confirmed in due course.

What timetable she has set for establishing specialist rape and sexual offences teams in every police force.

This Government recognises the devastating impact of sexual violence and that’s why tackling rape and sexual offences is a key part of our mission to halve Violence Against Women and Girls.It is essential for police forces to have the right specialist capability to support victims and bring perpetrators to justice. This is why we are working closely with policing to ensure every force has a specialist rape and sexual offences team.Further details will be announced in due course.

Whether she plans to amend police funding to help tackle extreme misogyny.

The Home Office announced the 2025-2026 police funding settlement before Christmas. It provides funding of up to £19.5 billion for the policing system in England and Wales, an overall increase of up to £1 billion when compared to the 2024-25 settlement, and equating to a 5.5% cash increase, and 3% real terms increase in funding. Total funding to police forces will be up to £17.4 billion, an increase of up to £987 million compared to the 2024-25 settlement. Decisions on how funding is used is an operational matter for Chief Constables and locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners.We are also working closely with the policing sector to deliver improvements in the police response to violence against women and girls (VAWG), including by embedding domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms.

How many hotels are (a) providing and (b) in negotiations to provide accommodation to asylum seekers in East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency.

This government inherited an asylum system under exceptional strain, with tens of thousands of people stuck in limbo without any prospect of having their claims processed. At their peak use under the previous government, in the autumn of 2023, more than 400 asylum hotels were being leased by the Home Office, at a cost of almost £9 million a day.We took immediate action to resolve that chaos by restarting asylum processing, establishing the new Border Security Command to tackle the people-smuggling gangs, cracking down on illegal working across the country, and increasing the return and removal of people with no right to be here.Inevitably, due to the size of the backlog we inherited, the Home Office has been forced to continue with the use of hotels for the time being. But this is not a permanent solution, and the small increase in the number in use at the end of last year was just a temporary but necessary step to manage pressures in the system, which is now in the process of being reversed.It remains our absolute commitment to end the use of hotels over time, as part of our reduction in overall asylum accommodation costs. In the interim, we are also continuing to increase our operational activity against smuggling gangs and illegal working, and we have increased returns to their highest level since 2018, with 16,400 people removed in the first six months this government was in charge.Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, and by local authority can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.