Clause 11 - Penalty
Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill
3:15 pm
Humfrey Malins (Shadow Minister, (Assisted By Shadow Law Officers); Woking, Conservative)
We are moving to the part of the Bill concerned with employment, and this is the first of the clauses dealing with the civil penalty. I am sure, Mr. Illsley, that the briefer I am in moving the amendments, the more likely you are to grant a short stand part debate, when one or two matters of a more general nature might be raised.
The amendments are brief. The first seeks to change the word ''adult'' to ''person''. There is probably an obvious answer to the question that I am about to ask. Should it not be contrary to the section to employ someone who is under 18, rather than ''an adult''? There are instances of employment of young persons, which is, in a sense, almost more culpable than employing an adult. Is there any reason why the clause should not refer to a person rather than an adult? If it is supposed to refer to an adult, what is the position in respect of younger people? Would there be any penalty for someone who employed a young person who was not an adult, and who was subject to immigration control and so on? If not, why not?
Amendment No. 8, to subsection (4), would strengthen the penalty provision by providing that the excuse did not apply to an employer who knew ''or believed'' at any time that the action was contrary to the section. It would place a heavier burden on the employer than the Bill currently does.
Amendments Nos. 1 and 2 repeat the same arguments for clause 17, which we will deal with later, in relation to the criminal offence as opposed to the penalty provision.