HC Deb 23 March 2000 vol 346 cc674-5W
Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of persons subject to immigration control who have been employed in contravention of section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 in each of the last three years; how many prosecutions have been brought; what is his policy in respect of such prosecutions; and if he will make a statement. [115974]

Mrs. Roche

No reliable estimate can be made of the number of persons subject to immigration control who have been employed in contravention of section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996. Prosecution of suspected offenders is a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service. One prosecution has been brought thus far, in 1999, when a company was found guilty on nine counts, and fined £500 on each count and ordered to pay costs. In addition, more than 40 people have been served with a warning of their liability to prosecution under this part of the Act. As my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. O'Brien) announced in the House last year, it is no longer our policy to issue a warning of liability to prosecution before proceeding to prosecution in appropriate cases.