A crackdown on rogue businesses hiring people to work illegally has led to a significant rise in arrests, new figures published by the Home Office today have shown.
Home Office Immigration Enforcement teams have been intensifying operational activity across the UK to stop businesses hiring people to work illegally.
In a statement to the House of Commons today, Monday 2 December, the Home Secretary confirmed that since the new government came into power in July, the number of illegal working visits increased by 34% and arrests went up 25%, compared to the same period last year.
From 5 July to 31 October 2024, operational colleagues targeting unscrupulous employers carried out 3,188 visits with 2,299 arrests. This is compared to 2,371 visits from 5 July to 31 October 2023 with 1,836 arrests.
Action to stop people suspected of working illegally has focused on nail bars, supermarkets and other relevant industries including car washes and construction.
The new figures come alongside the Home Secretary’s statement setting out the Government’s plans to reduce net migration, boost Britain’s border security and restore order to the asylum system, and further details of the previous Government’s policies including the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda.
Figures published today show that between the launch of the policy in the Spring of 2022 and its closure this summer, £290 million was paid directly to the Rwandan government, with almost £300 million spent staff, IT and legal costs, and £50 million spent on deportation flights.
The Home Secretary replaced this flight planning for Rwanda with flights to return people who have no right to stay in the UK. This has contributed to the delivery of nearly 10,000 returns since the General Election.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper in a statement to the House of Commons, said:
Over the last five years, controls in the immigration and asylum systems crumbled, legal and illegal migration both substantially increased, the backlog in the asylum system soared, and enforcement of basic rules fell apart.
Since the election, we have swiftly redeployed many of the people who were working on the Rwanda plan into working on actual flights instead to return people who have no right to stay in the UK – helping to deliver nearly 10,000 returns. Enforced returns are up by 19%, voluntary returns are up by 14%.
And in recent weeks, our increased international collaboration has led to high profile arrests and shown the smuggling gangs and their suppliers we will not sanction any hiding place from law enforcement.
We have the chance now to turn that around, to tackle the criminal gangs and prevent dangerous boat crossings, to restore order, control and fair rules, properly enforced, through hard graft and serious international partnerships.
During one nationwide operation in November known as Op Tornado, which targeted nail bars and convenience stores, officers carried out 235 visits and arrested 154 people suspected of working illegally. Officers also issued civil penalty referral notices worth up to £4 million to more than 50 businesses who had employed people unlawfully, making them liable for penalties of up to £60,000 per worker if found to have failed to conduct relevant pre-employment checks. People from 19 different nationalities were arrested.
In many cases, illegal workers live in squalid conditions on-site, earning far below the UK national minimum wage and working longer hours than legally allowed. By paying so little, these rogue employers undercut honest competitors who follow the law, and these businesses often do not pay their fair share in taxes to contribute to the economy.
Director of Enforcement, Compliance and Crime at Immigration Enforcement Eddy Montgomery said:
Illegal working operations bring the guilty to account and help protect vulnerable people from exploitation.
I’m very proud of our teams across the UK for their hard work, skill and co-operation on these very effective and necessary visits.
Alongside returns and illegal working, the Home Office has increased action to disrupt criminal smuggling networks and dissuade irregular migration, with the new Border Security Command working to go after the criminal smuggler and trafficking gangs.
Last week, the Home Secretary signed a Joint Statement with Iraq to tackle people smuggling and organised crime networks operating across the region and in Europe. The milestone border pacts will strengthen border security co-operation through greater law enforcement work, increased intelligence sharing and a new taskforce.
And earlier this month at Interpol’s General Assembly in Glasgow, the Prime Minister announced that £150m would be spent over the next two years to tackle organised immigration crime and smash the criminal networks profiting from small boat crossings.
