Illegal Immigrants: Employment
Justice
John Spellar (Warley, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases were taken to court for the employment of illegal migrants in the last year for which figures are available; how many such cases resulted in a conviction; what the largest fine levied was; how many fines were levied; and how many have been paid.
Crispin Blunt (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Prisons and Probation), Justice; Reigate, Conservative)
The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates court, found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences related to employing illegal immigrants in England and Wales in 2010 (latest available), can be viewed in the following table.
The largest fine levied was for the offence of employing a person knowing that they are an adult subject to immigration control at £7,515.
Annual court proceedings data for 2011 are planned for publication in May 2012.
Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Services (HMCTS) data recording systems do not identify the value of fines paid for specific offences. This information could be provided only by carrying out a manual search of the 45 individual fine account databases.
| Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts, found guilty and sentenced at all courts for selected immigration related offences, England and Wales 2010 (1, 2, 3) | ||||||||
| Statute | Offence description | Proceeded against | Convicted | Sentenced | Discharged | Fine | Community sentences | Suspended sentences |
| Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, s.8 as amended by the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004, s.6 | Employing a person aged 16 and above subject to immigration control. | 5 | 3 | 4 | — | 4 | — | — |
| Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, s.21 | Employing a person knowing that they are an adult subject to immigration control. | 8 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2006, R.12(1)(b) and (6) | Employing accession state national subject to worker authorisation in accession period. | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | — | — |
| (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The number of offenders sentenced can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown Court, may be sentenced in the following year. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice. | ||||||||