§ Lembit ÖpikTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was levied by the UK authorities in fines on(a) drivers and (b) freight companies found carrying stowaways in goods vehicles in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [160375]
§ Mr. BrowneWhen the civil penalty regime was introduced by the 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act, fixed penalties of £2,000 per clandestine entrant were imposed on hauliers for which both companies and their drivers were jointly and severally liable. There were no separate penalties for freight companies and drivers.
The total amount of the penalties imposed under the old regime during 2001 was £8,888,000. The total amount of penalties imposed during 2002 up until the end of old regime on 7 December 2002 was £3,792,000.
1314WThe regime was amended by the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. This came into effect on 8 December 2002 and introduced flexible penalties that were separately imposed on companies and drivers.
The total penalties imposed from the start of the new regime on 8 December 2002 up to 31 December 2003 was £1,365,878; of this £809,913 was imposed on freight companies and £555,965 on drivers.
The reduction in the monetary value of penalties imposed under the new regime is because:
The effectiveness of the civil penalty regime and improved control via the increasing use of new detection technology for freight searching has provided an incentive to hauliers to improve their security and lead to a marked a reduction in the number of incidents where clandestine entrants are discovered; andThe flexible penalty which takes mitigating factors into account has lead to lower average penalties per clandestine entrant.
§ Lembit ÖpikTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vehicles were checked for stowaways at UK border checkpoints in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [160380]
§ Mr. BrowneDetailed records are not kept nationally on the number of vehicles checked for clandestines at UK border checkpoints.
However, locally collated provisional information for 2003 indicates that at Dover and Coquelles the numbers checked by the Immigration Service were:
January 2003 to December 2003 Number Dover 138,030 Coquelles 158,130 Additionally, since 31 December 2003 there has been 100 per cent. checking capability through a range of technologies at Calais.