After a peaceful Easter weekend I have been busy on both ministerial and parliamentary visits this week.

Early this week I visited Cardiff Airport, in my capacity as Minister for Immigration, to meet with Border Force officers in order to get a first-hand look at the processes on the front line. It was certainly very interesting to look at their role from this perspective, rather than as someone passing through border control. Whilst many of us often equate border control with queues at airports, the job officers are doing every day is extremely important and it takes a great deal of skill to properly assess every person who enters the country to decide whether they are here for genuine reasons or not; thankfully, of course, the vast majority of those passing through such checks are genuine.

On Wednesday it was a pleasure to meet with World Jewish Relief in Bradford to see the work they are doing to help Syrian refugees into employment in Yorkshire. The Specialist Training and Employment Programme, which has been partly funded by the Home Office, helps people who have come to the UK, in many cases with merely the clothes they are wearing, to write CVs, learn interview skills and attend classes to prepare them for the workplace.

Back in the constituency I hope to spend some time with the Hampshire Constabulary Marine Unit on Friday to better understand the important work they undertake to protect the Solent, one of the busiest pleasure-use waterways in the world. This team is one of only a few remaining in the UK and, as a Southampton MP, I know just how important they are to many who regularly use the Solent.