Steve Beasant

The Liberal Democrats have released information that suggests Labour’s immigration legislation “isn’t taken seriously” by rogue employers.

In the last 18 months there were 3,164 illegal labour penalties handed out to firms – mainly restaurants and takeaways – by the UK Border Agency of which, 1,301 remain uncollected. And, it is thought that around £6.5 million is thought to have gone unpaid.

The statistics are the latest blow to the Government’s high-profile campaign to clamp down on companies that employ illegal workers.

Over the summer it was disclosed that the average fine imposed on guilty firms was £5,000, half the maximum penalty, while Baroness Scotland, the Attorney General, faced calls to resign in September after she admitted employing an illegal immigrant as her housekeeper.

Lady Scotland was among the 1,863 “employers” who did pay fines between February 2008 and October this year – in her case £5,000.

The Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne who released the figures, which were contained in a parliamentary answer, called for ministers to tighten fine collection procedures to ensure rogue firms could not flout the rules.

“The Government have belatedly got round to identifying unscrupulous employers who profit from the exploitation of illegal workers,” Chris Huhne said.

“It seems when they do find them there are no guarantees that they can get them to cough up any of these profits.

“We need to clamp down on rogue employers and the only way to do this is to make sure that they pay the fines they are given.”

The Home Office said the Government would vigorously pursue unpaid fines.

Legislation covering illegal workers was tightened in February 2008, with firms facing a sliding scale of penalties based on how diligently they attempted to research their employees’ backgrounds.

“We are determined to crack down on illegal workers and those who employ them and the civil penalty system is one of the ways we are doing that,” a Home Office spokesman said.

In August the UK Border Agency disclosed that household names including the restaurant chains Pizza Hut and Chez Gerard and the oil firm BP were among the firms to have been fined under the new rules.