HC Deb 06 November 1995 vol 265 cc562-3W
Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the possible outcome for foreign domestic workers suffering abuse from their employers. [39933]

Mr. Kirkhope

Domestic workers who are abused by their employers are advised to contact the police. Information about this is set out in the leaflet issued to domestic workers before arrival in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to act vigorously against employers who mistreat foreign domestic employees. [39935]

Mr. Kirkhope

The Government deplore all abuse of foreign domestic workers. The procedures in place guard against abuse as far as is possible. Any employer who uses violence towards an employee would be subject to the criminal law.

Mr. Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the extent to which immigration procedures may contribute to an increase in the number of individuals working in domestic service but unregistered as such. [39963]

Mr. Kirkhope

None. Current procedures are designed to ensure that only those domestic workers entitled to work as such in the United Kingdom are admitted or allowed to remain.

Mr. Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are allowed to remain in the United Kingdom only because they have a contract of employment. [39946]

Mr. Kirkhope

None. A person subject to immigration control needs to qualify for leave to remain under the immigration rules, or, in the case of overseas domestic workers, under the terms of the relevant concession.

Mr. Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of(a) the numbers of those people brought into the United Kingdom as domestic employees and (b) the percentage of those who suffer mistreatment and abuse. [39948]

Mr. Kirkhope

Comprehensive information on domestic workers admitted to the United Kingdom is not available. There are some entry clearance data for the 21 posts abroad which are likely to deal with the vast majority of applications by domestic workers. In the first six months of this year, nearly 6,300 visas were issued at these posts to domestic workers.