To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of (a) immigration officers and (b) other immigration staff who will be employed in dealing with leave to enter in each of the next five years. [78648]

[holding answer 29 March 1999]: None. The number of staff likely to be dealing with leave to enter over the next five years will depend upon a variety of factors, such as the extent of any growth in international passenger traffic as well as the impact of the measures set out in the White Paper 'Fairer, Faster And Firmer—A Modern Approach To Immigration And Asylum' designed to improve the operation of the on-entry control.