§ Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department following the raids last month on two employers in the Midlands, how many of the people detained were people who had claimed asylum, had been refused but could not be returned to their country of origin because it was not safe; how many, after investigation, were found to have the right to remain but had not obtained national insurance numbers; how many were found to have the right to work and a national insurance number; of the other employees working at Bomfords and Pontrilas sawmills who were interviewed, how many were found to have the right to remain but had not obtained national insurance numbers; and how many who had the right to work were being paid below the minimum wage. [137712]
§ Beverley HughesA total of 44 individuals were detained during the course of the operations at Bomfords and Pontrilas sawmills. None fitted the above criteria. The individuals were detained because they were removable from the United Kingdom.
The operations were aimed at the detection and removal of immigration offenders. Once an individual's immigration status was established, no further inquiries were conducted on site. It is not possible therefore to give details relating to the possession of national insurance numbers.
Once an employee established to an immigration officer that he or she had the right to remain in the United Kingdom, no further inquiries were required.
Inquiries were not made into exact pay levels at Pontrilas, but it is believed that there were no staff being paid less than the minimum wage. At Bomfords the majority of labour had been provided by agencies and were employed on a piece work basis.