16. Third supplementary memorandum
submitted by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Home
Office
PROSECUTION OF IMMIGRATION OFFENDERS AND
ILLEGAL WORKING
ILLEGAL WORKING
The Government is determined to tackle illegal
migrant working and its harmful social effects. Our strategy includes:
— strengthening enforcement capacity
and activity;
— working in partnership with business
to improve compliance; and
— closer joint working between departments.
1. Strengthening enforcement capacity and
activity— Illegal working operations are a
priority for the Immigration Service, and we are increasing our
enforcement capacity. In 2005, the UK Immigration Service carried
out 2,850 enforcement operations against illegal work, as against
1,618 operations the previous year. Operations against illegal
working are intelligence-led and contribute to our efforts to
deliver targets for the removal of failed asylum seekers. The
measures to combat illegal working in the Immigration, Asylum
and Nationality Bill will enable us to deal more swiftly and effectively
with routine cases of non-compliance, and allow the Immigration
Service to concentrate its prosecution resources on the more serious
cases.
2. Working in partnership with business
— The majority of UK employers are
law abiding and we are keen to work with business to encourage
compliance with the law on the prevention of illegal migrant working.
The Home Office Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality
chairs the Illegal Working Stakeholder Group comprising key stakeholders
from the UK's commercial sector, representatives of migrant workers
and minority communities, who meet to discuss legislative and
other practical ways to address illegal migrant working in the
UK. IND is active in supporting businesses comply with the law
through the provision of web-based guidance, an employers helpline,
and educational visits by enforcement staff.
3. Closer joint working between Government
departments
— The Immigration Service is leading
the Joint Workplace Enforcement pilot (JWEP), which is exploring
the scope for closer co-ordinated working, including intelligence
sharing, between Government workplace enforcement departments
to tackle both the use and exploitation of illegal migrant workers.
The pilot draws together a co-located team of enforcement and
intelligence officials from UKIS, HMRC, DWP, DTI, Health &
Safety Executive and the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, to share
information and co-ordinate operations against employers, employment
agencies, labour providers and any type of business who are involved
in the deliberate use or supply of illegal migrant workers. An
initial evaluation of the pilot will take place shortly.
— Our involvement in joint working
goes far wider than JWEP. We have established intelligence-sharing
links with a range of other law enforcement agencies which are
relevant to activity against illegal working. The Serious Organised
Crime agency will lead action against organised immigration crime,
including where this involves the trade in illegal labour. We
are also working closely with DEFRA and the Gangmaster Licensing
Authority to establish the licensing arrangements for agricultural
labour providers; I am an ex officio member of the Gangmaster
Licensing Authority Board am concerned to ensure the licensing
scheme eliminates illegal working from the areas it covers.
ERD CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS:
CURRENT OPERATIONAL
POSITION
We are committed to developing the capacity
of Criminal Investigations Teams belonging to the Enforcement
and Removals Directorate (ERD), by developing prosecution capability
which will to enable officers to more fully implement the investigative
powers (both criminal and financial) available to them.
1. Purpose and scope of ERD investigations— The
purpose of the ERD investigations capability is to conduct compliance,
investigation and prosecution activities to support removals and
tackle immigration-related crime. The capability is focussed on
enforcing the immigration rules and discouraging illegal activity,
rather than achieving volume prosecutions per se. To this end,
ERD officers investigate a wide range of offences. Activities
range from the investigation and prosecution of individuals for
failing to comply with the documentation process, to the disruption
and prosecution of criminals involved in organised immigration
crime.
2. ERD criminal investigations teams
— The ERD Criminal Investigations
capability currently consists of eight Criminal Investigations
Teams. The teams work either alone or jointly with the police,
to conduct investigations and prosecutions against those who commit
immigration-related crime.
3. Data on investigations
— Data on ERD prosecutions is derived
from the National Prosecutions Database. This is a bespoke database
that ERD investigations teams use to record details of their investigations.
It is scheduled to undergo development to enhance the type and
quality of management information that is available.
— The target for ERD Criminal Investigations
Teams in FY 2005-06 is to initiate 700 investigations. The following
data gives information on progress against this target:
— 506 new investigations have been commenced
in the current FY (up to end of December 2005).
— 407 cases have been completed. This figure
includes new cases initiated in this FY and ongoing cases from
the previous year.
— Of the 407 cases completed this FY, 293
cases (72%) resulted in a prosecution and a criminal sanction/outcome.
A breakdown of these outcomes is given in Tables 1a and 1b.
— 114 cases (28%) were not taken forward
for prosecution.
— There a number of reasons why investigations
initiated by the Criminal Investigations Teams are not always
taken through to criminal prosecution. These include amongst other
things:
— Insufficient evidence or no evidence
of the alleged offence.
— Immigration powers being used to effect
removal instead of going down the criminal prosecutions route.
— Subject agreeing to comply with enforcement
action after prosecution action has been initiated.
Table 1a: PROSECUTION
OUTCOMES
|
| Case Outcome | Total (No)
| Total (%) |
|
| Custodial Sentence | 259
| 88 |
| Fine | 5
| 2 |
| Suspended Sentence | 8
| 3 |
| Caution | 13
| 4 |
| Community Service | 4
| 1 |
| Acquittal | 4
| 1 |
|
Table 1b: BREAKDOWN OF CUSTODIAL SENTENCES
|
| Custodial Sentence (duration) | Total (No)
| Total (%) |
|
| 0-3 months | 17
| 7 |
| 4-6 months | 52
| 20 |
| 7-12 months | 119
| 46 |
| 1-2 years | 57
| 22 |
| 2-5 years | 10
| 4 |
| 5-10 years | 4
| 2 |
4. Tackling organised immigration crime
| | |
|
— UKIS is determined to tackle organised immigration
crime. It is just one of a number of agencies who share this commitment.
The work of ERD in this respect is focussed on a combination of
joint working initiatives and the development of its existing
capability towards more complex investigations into organised
crime.
— ERD currently directs a portion of its investigations
resources specifically towards tackling organised immigration
crime. This has resulted in the prosecution of numerous individuals
for offences relating to marriage abuse, student/college abuse,
forgery rackets and illegal working. These resources are currently
being developed with the addition of a financial investigations
capability, which will enable our investigators to pursue these
criminals using Proceeds of Crime Act (2002) powers.
— ERD also gives specialist support to the police,
providing operational support to borough and national police forces,
and also specialist police units such as SCD7 (Kidnap Unit) and
SCD8 (Operation Trident). Immigration Officers conduct a range
of activities with these units, such as assisting with the identification
of foreign nationals involved in gun crime and related drug dealing,
supporting the investigation, apprehension and arrest of individuals
suspected or involved in terrorist activities, and providing support
in police-led cases involving marriage abuse, student abuse and
illegal working.
5. Developing the ERD investigations capability
— ERD is currently working to develop its prosecutions
capability to enable its officers to more fully implement the
investigative powers (both criminal and financial) available to
them.
— Deterring abuse and promoting compliance to the
immigration system will be central to this development. To this
end, the capability will focus primarily on promoting increased
compliance to IS processes, but will also work to increasingly
target and disrupt specific areas of immigration abuse and organised
crime.
— A range of measures to support this development
are either currently in progress or at the proposals stage:
— Appointment of Head of Profession for ERD Criminal
Investigations and supporting senior management team to lead on
the development of an ERD Criminal and Financial Investigations
capability.
— A review of INDs operational processes. This
work will consider how ERD investigators and other staff can work
together to deter non-compliant behaviour in a way that will maximise
the impact of individual prosecutions and prevent the escalation
of non-compliant behaviour.
— To support the increased consolidation of the
investigations capability into the business, ERD will look to
train more of its staff as investigators. This will enable ERD
as a whole to more effectively stamp out less serious abuses of
the immigration rules as they arise.
— Building on the range of investigative tools
that ERD investigators have available to them. Through the development
of a financial investigations capability, to support our existing
criminal investigators. These investigators will use Proceeds
of Crime Act 2002 powers to focus on the key drivers for immigration-related
crime, taking away from criminals the benefits of economic betterment
and financial gain that are often associated with immigration
crime.
— A manual for UKIS investigators is substantially
in draft and will be issued as soon as possible. The manual will
be a comprehensive guide for all IS investigators.
Dave Roberts
Director, Enforcement and Removals
27 February 2006
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