The Tories have been slammed for losing control of our borders as they were accused of issuing 275 visas to a fake care home company.
Ministers have slipped out two damning reports accusing the Government of a “totally inadequate” handling of immigration.
An inspection at London City Airport identified "a significant risk to security" as private jets are landing in the UK without undergoing proper checks. But the Home Office stopped the release of numbers showing the scale of the problem. A review of the social care sector found migrants with care visas working illegally in a quarter of enforcement visits.
David Neal, who wrote the reports, was sacked as the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, after he went public with his concerns after the Government delayed their publication.
In his report on social care, he warned of “shocking” examples “including the case of 275 certificates of sponsorship being granted to a care home that did not exist”. A certificate of sponsorship is given to migrants by the firm sponsoring their visa application.
Woman sexually assaulted by intruder at care home in sick New Year's Day attack
Mr Neal added: “After Border Force officers raised suspicions about workers arriving in the UK to work for the company, contact was made with the care home by the Home Office. It was only at this stage that the Home Office found that the care home whose details had been provided for the licence… had no knowledge of the application.”
Mr Neal said the Home Office had created a system that “invited large numbers of low-skilled workers to this country who are at risk from exploitation”.
He added: “Moreover, its control measures to mitigate the risk were totally inadequate. There is just one compliance officer for every 1,600 employers licensed to sponsor migrant workers… What worries me most is that the Home Office does not appear to have any process to identify the lessons from this debacle.”
Mr Neal’s team carried out a spot inspection at London City Airport earlier this year and found Border Force staff at the airport missed targets on the number of flights they were supposed to check in person. "This is shocking and something is clearly very wrong... this needs to be addressed by the Home Office as a matter of urgency," Mr Neal wrote in the report. But much of the key information, including the numbers of flights that were not checked, were redacted from the version of the document published by the Home Office.
Labour’s Yvette Cooper described the reports as “scandalous”. The Shadow Home Secretary said: “They expose a Conservative government which has lost control of our borders and our border security. From allowing high security risk flights to swan into the country with zero in-person checks, despite risks from drugs, guns and people smuggling, through to rampant labour exploitation in the social care visa.
“Even now ministers are hiding the true scale of the flaws, redacting much of the vital information, and slipping the reports out when Parliament can’t respond. The public have a right to get answers. We need to know how many high-risk flights arriving at City airport were not checked in person as they should have been. People deserve to know their borders are secure and safe.”
Border Force Director General, Phil Douglas said: “We will never compromise on border security and carry out robust security checks on those arriving into the UK, including both scheduled and notified general aviation flights. As I previously explained to Mr Neal, some of the information in this report is factually inaccurate. Border Security checks were carried out on all general aviation arrivals at London City Airport”.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We have already intervened to stop the flow of overseas care workers entering the UK where there is no genuine role for them to undertake and taken robust action against businesses committing labour exploitation. We do not tolerate illegal activity in the labour market and we will continue to revoke licenses from those who abuse the system.
"New measures already in force will cut the rising numbers of visas granted and address significant concerns about high levels of non-compliance, worker exploitation and abuse. As with all our policies, we will keep them under close review and if needed, we will not hesitate to go further.”
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
