§ Mr. AllanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals were charged with(a) possession of a false instrument and (b) attempting to obtain services by deception; how many were subsequently sentenced to a term of imprisonment; and what was the average sentence length in the last year for which figures are available. [41816]
§ Mr. MichaelUnder section 26(1)(d) of the Immigration Act 1971, a foreign national is guilty of a criminal offence if, without lawful authority, he alters any certificate of entitlement, entry clearance, work permit or other document made under or for the purpose of the Act; or if he has in his possession any passport, certificate of entitlement, entry clearance, work permit or other document which is known (or he has reasonable cause to believe) to be false. However, it is also possible that other legislation, which although not referring exclusively to passports, may be used to deal with foreign nationals arrested for this type of crime.
Detailed information on persons charged by offence is not collected centrally. Information held on the Home Office Court Proceedings database for 1996 (latest available) shows nine prosecutions and five convictions under section 26(1)(d) of the Act. Only one offender was given a custodial sentence which was for the period of one month.
240WThe Court Proceedings database does not record a person's nationality and is unable to identify all benefit fraud cases, as the majority are dealt with under section 1 of the Theft Act 1968, which covers a multitude of circumstances.