Crystal Umbrella

Three illegal workers have been discovered at a car wash in Maidstone, Kent. The three men were busted by officers from the UK Border Agency on March 9^th as they worked at a hand car wash on Maidstone’s Sutton Road.

On entering the place of business, the UK Border Agency officials checked identity documents and spoke with members of staff present. The identity documents were counterfeit, stating that the men were of Greek and Italian nationalities. The three men were arrested for possessing these counterfeit documents. They later admitted to being Arabian.

Following their arrest, officials raided the house the three men shared in Wallis Avenue, Park Wood. The discovered one Arabian passport belonging to one of the men. He is now in custody pending deportation. The other two men are also still remanded in custody charged with fraud offences. They are also likely to be deported once the criminal proceedings have been concluded.

Speaking on behalf of the UK Border Agency in Kent, Carla Johnson said that she hoped this case would act as a deterrent to other businesses. She continued: “These arrests show our commitment to targeting those who work illegally. It is a crime that not only undercuts local businesses but also has a serious impact on local communities, taking jobs from those who are genuinely allowed to work. We will act on any information received and, if appropriate, visit the place concerned and make arrests. No matter what line of business you are in, you are not safe. We will not tolerate illegal working in Kent.”

Investigations are ongoing regarding the franchise owner of the car wash. It is possible that he will be served a Notice of Potential Liability for employing the three men once the investigations have been completed. This could see the franchisee facing fines of up to £30,000 per illegal employee. Although the car wash shares the same location as a BP Garage, there is no connection between the two, therefore they will not be held responsible.

The points based system used to determine immigrants’ right to work in the UK is similar to that used in Australia. Only non-EU workers who have skills lacking in the UK are permitted to work here.

A Freedom of Information Act request has provided details of illegal workers who have been employed by government agencies since 2006. The data shows that ten foreign workers were actually employed by the UK Border Agency, the Home Office department responsible for vetting immigrants who come into the country. The Home Office itself also employed two illegal workers at their headquarters in Whitehall. In total, the figures showed that hundreds of illegal workers were employed at 54 NHS trusts and 34 local authorities across the country.

Of the twelve people employed by the Home Office, one was from Ghana and the other eleven were Nigerian. The ten workers at the UK Border Agency were cleaners while one person was employed as a security guard at Whitehall and the other illegal worker there held a chef position.

These twelve people have since been subject to investigation and action has been taken. Eight have been deported and three are currently detained pending appeal. Only one of the twelve has been granted permission to remain in the UK.

As this data was made public, Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Grayling stated: “This is an absolute scandal. The Government has taken tough action against private companies over the employment of illegal immigrants, yet on this evidence it is quite clear the public sector has taken on bogus workers and escaped any form of censure.”

He concluded: “We have ministers constantly telling us they have got to grips with the chaos in our immigration system, yet the Home Office itself has been employing illegal workers. It is completely unacceptable and we need an urgent explanation from ministers.”

These figures will be a further blow to Home Secretary Alan Johnson who has already publicly condemned the government for its handling of immigration. Only last year Attorney Baroness Scotland was found to have employed a Tongan housekeeper who was not eligible to work in this country. She was subsequently fined £5000.

In total, 349 illegal immigrants were employed in public sector positions according to the figures released. The NHS employed four foreign nationals as doctors and 13 as nurses in their hospitals. Six people were employed in secondary schools as teachers and ten people were employed as care and social workers.

The Home Office responded to these figures via a spokesman who said: “The 12 illegal workers identified since 2006 were all sub-contractors, none of them were directly employed by the Home Office. It was our checks and the strict regime we operate on illegal working in the UK that brought these cases to light. We are doing more than ever before to crack down on illegal working, with raids taking place up and down the country every week, and thousands of rule breakers deported.”

These figures show that the employment of illegal workers continues to be a problem across all sectors. Crystal Umbrella recognises its responsibility to protect agencies and clients alike from the potential pitfalls. As such, we are investing heavily in UK Border Agency compliant registrations in order to have the most effective procedures and technologies in place as a pre-emptive measure.

This week Parliament is set to put plans in motion to roll out identity cards for non-EU nationals who extend their UK stay past six months under Tier 2 of the points-based immigration system. This would be effective from January 6^th 2010. Already, the UK Border Agency has issued over 100,000 identity cards mainly to students extending their stay or to spouses.

Originally identity cards for Tier 2 applicants was set to be rolled out next Spring. However, the Home Secretary requested that the UK Border Agency accelerate the implementation. Accordingly, the UK Border Agency have also made recommendations that the implementation of Tier 1 and 5 identity cards should be accelerated along the same time-scales. All foreign nationals subject to these regulations will be required to have their biometrics, e.g. photograph and fingerprints, taken when they wish to extend their stay.

Systems are now being put in place to ensure that facilities are available for enrolling these biometrics since the UK Border Agency has made a pledge that they will issue a further 75,000 cards by the end of this month. Currently biometrics can be enrolled at four UK passport offices and also at the UK Border Agency’s own offices. Appointments for this service can now be booked online, as can premium appointments for those not subject to the biometric system. However, negotiations are continuing for biometric enrolment to be offered at selected Post Office branches. This will be a walk-in service and details will be sent out with relevant biometric enrolment notification letters.