Immigration Bill (HC Bill 96)

Part 1 Labour market and illegal working

Director of Labour Market Enforcement

1 Director of Labour Market Enforcement

(1) 5The Secretary of State must appoint a person as the Director of Labour Market
Enforcement (referred to in this Part as “the Director”).

(2) The Director is to hold office in accordance with the terms of his or her
appointment.

(3) The functions of the Director are exercisable on behalf of the Crown.

(4) 10The Secretary of State must provide the Director with such staff, goods,
services, accommodation and other resources as the Secretary of State
considers the Director needs for the exercise of his or her functions.

(5) The Secretary of State must pay the Director such expenses, remuneration and
allowances as may be provided for by or under the terms of the Director’s
appointment.

2 Labour market enforcement strategy

(1) 5The Director must before the beginning of each financial year prepare a labour
market enforcement strategy for that year and submit it to the Secretary of State
for approval.

(2) A labour market enforcement strategy (referred to in this Part as a “strategy”)
is a document which—

(a) 10sets out the Director’s assessment of—

(i) the scale and nature of non-compliance in the labour market
during the year before the one to which the strategy relates, and

(ii) the likely scale and nature of such non-compliance during the
year to which the strategy relates and the following two years,

(b) 15contains a proposal for the year to which the strategy relates setting
out—

(i) how labour market enforcement functions should be exercised,
and

(ii) the education, training and research activities the Secretary of
20State, and any other person by whose officers labour market
enforcement functions are exercisable, should undertake or
facilitate in connection with those functions,

(c) sets out the activities the Director proposes to undertake during the
year to which the strategy relates in the exercise of his or her functions
25under section 6, and

(d) deals with such other matters as the Director considers appropriate.

(3) The proposal mentioned in subsection (2)(b) must, in particular, set out how
the funding available for the purposes of the functions and activities concerned
should be allocated.

(4) 30The Director may at any time prepare a revised strategy and submit it to the
Secretary of State for approval.

(5) The Secretary of State may approve a strategy either with or without
modifications (but a modification may not relate to the assessment described
in paragraph (a) of subsection (2)).

(6) 35Any person by whom labour market enforcement functions are exercisable
during a year to which a strategy approved under this section relates must, in
exercising those functions, have regard to the strategy.

(7) In this section and section 4 “financial year” means a period of 12 months
ending with 31 March.

3 40Non-compliance in the labour market etc: interpretation

(1) For the purposes of this Part each of the following constitutes “non-compliance
in the labour market”—

(a) breach of a requirement imposed by or under labour market legislation;

(b) the commission of a labour market offence.

(2) In this Part “labour market enforcement functions” means—

(a) any function of the Secretary of State in connection with prohibition
orders made under section 3A of the Employment Agencies Act 1973,

(b) any function of an officer authorised by the Secretary of State under
5section 9 of that Act,

(c) any function of an officer acting for the purposes of the National
Minimum Wage Act 1998 (whether so acting by virtue of paragraph (a)
or (b) of section 13(1) of that Act),

(d) any function of an enforcement officer acting for the purposes of the
10Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 (whether so acting by virtue of
section 15(1) or (2) of that Act), and

(e) any other function prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of
State.

(3) In this section “labour market legislation” means—

(a) 15the Employment Agencies Act 1973,

(b) the National Minimum Wage Act 1998,

(c) the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004, and

(d) any other enactment prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary
of State.

(4) 20In this section “labour market offence” means—

(a) an offence under the Employment Agencies Act 1973;

(b) an offence under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998;

(c) an offence under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004;

(d) an offence under section 1 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015;

(e) 25an offence under section 2 or 4 of that Act—

(i) which is committed in relation to a worker or a person seeking
work, or

(ii) which is otherwise committed in circumstances where
subsection (2) of section 3 of that Act applies;

(f) 30any other offence prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of
State.

(5) Regulations under this section may make such provision amending or
repealing any provision of section 2, 4, 5, 6 or 7 as the Secretary of State
considers appropriate in consequence of any provision made by the
35regulations.

(6) In this section “worker” has the same meaning as in the Employment Rights
Act 1996 (see section 230 of that Act) and the reference to a person seeking work
is to be read accordingly.

(7) In this section references to the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 are
40references to that Act only so far as it applies in relation to England and Wales
and Scotland.

4 Annual and other reports

(1) As soon as reasonably practicable after the end of each financial year in respect
of which the Secretary of State has approved a strategy under section 2, the
45Director must submit to the Secretary of State an annual report for that year.

(2) An annual report must include—

(a) an assessment of the extent to which labour market enforcement
functions were exercised, and activities of the kind mentioned in
section 2(2)(b)(ii) were carried out, in accordance with the strategy
during the year to which the report relates,

(b) 5an assessment of the extent to which the strategy had an effect on the
scale and nature of non-compliance in the labour market during that
year, and

(c) a statement of the activities the Director undertook during that year in
the exercise of his or her functions under section 6.

(3) 10The Director must submit to the Secretary of State a report dealing with any
matter—

(a) which the Secretary of State has requested the Director report on, or

(b) which a strategy approved by the Secretary of State under section 2
states is a matter the Director proposes to report on,

15and must do so as soon as reasonably practicable after the request is made or
the strategy is approved.

5 Publication of strategy and reports

(1) The Secretary of State must lay before Parliament—

(a) any strategy the Secretary of State approves under section 2, and

(b) 20any annual or other report the Secretary of State receives under section
4,

and must do so as soon as reasonably practicable after approving the strategy
or receiving the report.

(2) A document laid under subsection (1) must not contain material removed
25under subsection (3).

(3) The Secretary of State may remove from a document to be laid under
subsection (1) any material the publication of which the Secretary of State
considers—

(a) would be against the interests of national security,

(b) 30might jeopardise the safety of any person in the United Kingdom, or

(c) might prejudice the investigation or prosecution of an offence under
the law of England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

6 Information hub

The Director must gather, store, process, analyse and disseminate information
35relating to non-compliance in the labour market.

7 Restriction on exercising functions in relation to individual cases

(1) The Director must not in exercising any function make any recommendation in
relation to an individual case.

(2) Subsection (1) does not prevent the Director considering individual cases and
40drawing conclusions about them for the purpose of, or in the context of,
considering a general issue.

Offences

8 Offence of illegal working

(1) The Immigration Act 1971 is amended as follows.

(2) In section 3(1)(c)(i) (power to grant limited leave to enter or remain in the
5United Kingdom subject to condition restricting employment or occupation)
for “employment” substitute “work”.

(3) After section 24A insert—

“24B Illegal working

(1) A person who is subject to immigration control commits an offence if
10the person works at a time when—

(a) the person has not been granted leave to enter or remain in the
United Kingdom, or

(b) the person’s leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom—

(i) is invalid,

(ii) 15has ceased to have effect (whether by reason of
curtailment, revocation, cancellation, passage of time or
otherwise), or

(iii) is subject to a condition preventing the person from
doing work of that kind.

(2) 20A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on
summary conviction—

(a) in England and Wales, to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding 51 weeks or a fine, or both,

(b) in Scotland or Northern Ireland, to imprisonment for a term not
25exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the
standard scale, or both.

(3) In relation to an offence committed before section 281(5) of the Criminal
Justice Act 2003 comes into force, the reference in subsection (2)(a) to 51
weeks is to be read as a reference to 6 months.

(4) 30If a person is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) in England
and Wales, the prosecutor must consider whether to ask the court to
commit the person to the Crown Court under section 70 of the Proceeds
of Crime Act 2002 (committal with view to confiscation order being
considered).

(5) 35If a person is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) in Scotland,
the prosecutor must consider whether to ask the court to act under
section 92 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (making of confiscation
order).

(6) If a person is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) in Northern
40Ireland, the prosecutor must consider whether to ask the court to
commit the person to the Crown Court under section 218 of the
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (committal with view to confiscation order
being considered).

(7) The reference in subsection (1) to a person who is subject to
immigration control is to a person who under this Act requires leave to
enter or remain in the United Kingdom.

(8) Where a person is on immigration bail within the meaning of Part 1 of
5Schedule 7 to the Immigration Act 2016—

(a) the person is to be treated for the purposes of subsection (1) as
if the person had been granted leave to enter the United
Kingdom, but

(b) any condition as to the person’s work in the United Kingdom to
10which the person’s immigration bail is subject is to be treated
for those purposes as a condition of leave.

(9) The reference in subsection (1) to a person working is to that person
working—

(a) under a contract of employment,

(b) 15under a contract of apprenticeship,

(c) under a contract personally to do work,

(d) under or for the purposes of a contract for services,

(e) for a purpose related to a contract to sell goods,

(f) as a constable,

(g) 20in the course of Crown employment,

(h) as a relevant member of the House of Commons staff, or

(i) as a relevant member of the House of Lords staff.

(10) In subsection (9)—

• “contract to sell goods” means a contract by which a person acting
  25in the course of a trade, business, craft or profession transfers or
  agrees to transfer the property in goods to another person (and
  for this purpose “goods” means any tangible moveable items);

• “Crown employment”—

  (a)

  in relation to England and Wales and Scotland, has the
  30meaning given by section 191(3) of the Employment
  Rights Act 1996;

  (b)

  in relation to Northern Ireland, has the meaning given
  by Article 236(3) of the Employment Rights (Northern
  Ireland) Order 1996 (SI 1996/1919 (NI 16)SI 1996/1919 (NI 16));

• 35“relevant member of the House of Commons staff” has the
  meaning given by section 195(5) of the Employment Rights Act
  1996;

• “relevant member of the House of Lords staff” has the meaning
  given by section 194(6) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

(11) 40Subsection (1) does not apply to—

(a) service as a member of the naval, military or air forces of the
Crown, or

(b) employment by an association established for the purposes of
Part 11 of the Reserve Forces Act 1996.

(12) 45In this section “contract” means a contract whether express or implied
and, if express, whether oral or in writing.””

(4) In section 28A(3)(a) (arrest without warrant) after “section” insert “24B,”.

(5) In section 28B(5) (search and arrest by warrant: relevant offences) after “24A,”
insert “24B,”.

(6) In section 28CA(1) (business premises: entry to arrest) after paragraph (b)
insert—

“(ba) 5for an offence under section 24B,”.”

(7) In section 28D(4) (entry and search of premises: relevant offences) after “24A,”
insert “24B,”.

(8) In section 28FA(1)(a) (search for personnel records: offences to which section
applies) for “or 24A(1)” substitute “, 24A(1) or 24B(1)”.

9 10Offence of employing illegal worker

(1) In section 21 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 (offence of
knowingly employing illegal worker) in subsection (1) after “knowing” insert
“or having reasonable cause to believe”.

(2) In that section, in subsection (2)(a)(i) (maximum term of imprisonment for
15conviction of offence on indictment) for “two” substitute “five”.

(3) In section 28A of the Immigration Act 1971 (arrest without warrant)—

(a) after subsection (9A) insert—

“(9B) An immigration officer may arrest without warrant a person
who, or whom the immigration officer has reasonable grounds
20for suspecting—

(a) has committed or attempted to commit an offence under
section 21(1) of the Immigration, Asylum and
Nationality Act 2006 (employment of illegal worker etc),
or

(b) 25is committing or attempting to commit that offence.”,”

(b) in subsection (10) for “and (5)” substitute “, (5) and (9B)”, and

(c) in subsection (11) for “and (5)” substitute “, (5) and (9B)”.

(4) In subsection 28AA(1) of that Act (arrest with warrant) for paragraphs (a) and
(b) substitute “section 24(1)(d)”.

30Illegal working in licensed premises

10 Licensing Act 2003: amendments relating to illegal working

(1) Schedule 1 (Licensing Act 2003: amendments relating to illegal working) has
effect.

(2) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision which—

(a) 35has a similar effect to the amendments made by Schedule 1, and

(b) applies in relation to Scotland or Northern Ireland.

(3) Regulations under subsection (2) may—

(a) amend, repeal or revoke any relevant enactment;

(b) confer functions on any person.

(4) 40Regulations under subsection (2) may not confer functions on—

(a) the Scottish Ministers,

(b) the First Minister and deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland,

(c) a Northern Ireland Minister, or

(d) a Northern Ireland department.

(5) In this section “relevant enactment” means—

(a) 5an Act of the Scottish Parliament or Northern Ireland legislation, and

(b) an instrument made under such an Act or under Northern Ireland
legislation.

Illegal working in relation to private hire vehicles etc

11 Private hire vehicles etc

(1) 10Schedule 2 (private hire vehicles etc) has effect.

(2) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision which—

(a) has a similar effect to the amendments made by Schedule 2, and

(b) applies in relation to Scotland or Northern Ireland.

(3) Regulations under subsection (2) may—

(a) 15amend, repeal or revoke any enactment;

(b) confer functions on any person.

(4) Regulations under subsection (2) may not confer functions on—

(a) the Scottish Ministers,

(b) the First Minister and deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland,

(c) 20a Northern Ireland Minister, or

(d) a Northern Ireland department.

(5) In this section “enactment” includes—

(a) an enactment contained in subordinate legislation within the meaning
of the Interpretation Act 1978;

(b) 25an enactment contained in, or in an instrument made under, an Act of
the Scottish Parliament;

(c) an enactment contained in, or in an instrument made under, Northern
Ireland legislation.

Illegal working notices and orders

12 30Illegal working closure notices and illegal working compliance orders

Schedule 3 (illegal working closure notices and illegal working compliance
orders) has effect.

Part 2 Access to services

Residential tenancies

13 Offence of leasing premises

(1) 5The Immigration Act 2014 is amended in accordance with subsections (2) to (5).

(2) After section 33 insert—

““Offences

33A Offences: landlords

(1) The landlord under a residential tenancy agreement which relates to
premises in England commits an offence if the first and second
10conditions are met.

(2) The first condition is that the premises are occupied by an adult who is
disqualified as a result of their immigration status from occupying
premises under a residential tenancy agreement.

(3) The second condition is that the landlord knows or has reasonable
15cause to believe that the premises are occupied by an adult who is
disqualified as a result of their immigration status from occupying
premises under a residential tenancy agreement.

(4) But unless subsection (5) applies the landlord does not commit an
offence under subsection (1) if—

(a) 20the premises are located in an area in relation to which section
22 is in force,

(b) the adult mentioned in subsections (2) and (3) is a limited right
occupier, and

(c) the eligibility period in relation to that occupier has not expired.

(5) 25This subsection applies if the Secretary of State has given a notice in
writing to the landlord which—

(a) identifies the adult mentioned in subsections (2) and (3), and

(b) states that the adult is disqualified as a result of their
immigration status from occupying premises under a
30residential tenancy agreement.

(6) Section 22(9) applies for the purposes of subsections (1) to (5) as it
applies for the purposes of that section.

(7) A person commits an offence if—

(a) there has been a post-grant contravention in relation to a
35residential tenancy agreement which relates to premises in
England,

(b) the person is the responsible landlord in relation to the post-
grant contravention,

(c) the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that there
40has been a post-grant contravention in relation to the
agreement, and