To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much has been spent on aerial surveillance of the English Channel in (a) each year from 2010 to 2018 and (b) 2019 to date.

It is Home Office policy not to comment on details of the deployment of covert assets or any operational capability or taskings, as to do so would or likely to prejudice national security.

Please see below a Home Office publication link to transparency data from 2010 to financial year 2017/2018 on Home Office spending.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ho-annual-reports-and-accounts

Border Force uses a layered approach to coastal defence, including patrols comprising additional military and law enforcement vessels, on-shore re-sources and intelligence and surveillance to detect efforts to smuggle guns and drugs or facilitate illegal entry into the country.