§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many entrants to the United Kingdom have been found guilty of working illegally, how many were fined; how many were subject to a custodial sentence; how many were removed from the United Kingdom; and how many were found not guilty of any charge in each of the last five years. [2759]
§ Mr. Timothy Kirkhope[holding answer 28 November 1995]: Information is available for 1990–94 on criminal proceedings taken against persons under section 24(l)(b)(ii) of the Immigration Act 1971—failure to observe conditions of leave, excluding overstaying and failure to report to a medical officer—and is given in table 1. Only a small proportion of persons found working in breach of conditions of leave are proceeded against in this way. The vast majority are dealt with under enforcement powers of the act and information on persons removed from the United Kingdom under these powers is given in table 2.
service enforcement unit at Status park and at Becket house—with satellites at Stansted and Apex house, Gravesend; and at Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham airports. Other immigration staff are engaged in enforcement work from time to time throughout the United Kingdom.
Immigration offenders are identified by following up information from a variety of sources. The normal practice is for the information to be checked through official records with a view to ensuring that a named offender is identified before any attempt to locate him or her is made. The only exception to this "named offender" policy is where visits may be made to places of work where there is apparently reliable information that immigration offenders will be found. In these circumstances particular account is taken of whether there is a history of the premises being used by offenders.
The immigration service works closely with the police and an immigration officer will normally be accompanied by a police officer where an arrest may be necessary. In addition, the police will seek the assistance of the immigration service where they identify a possible offender in the course of other police inquiries.
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