Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 7
7
The Department described the different forms of harm that occur from immigration crime.
Conclusion
The Department described the different forms of harm that occur from immigration crime. These include criminal harm by foreign national offenders against their victims and society, and the harm organised crime groups commit against society and vulnerable people. It also includes the financial harm to legitimate UK employers of competitors employing people illegally and harm caused to taxpayer-funded public services by people attempting to use them illegally.10 The Department acknowledged that the vast majority of illegal immigrants do not cause direct harm to the public, but can cause harm to the wider economy.11 In response to a recommendation in the NAO’s report, the Department told us it was reviewing whether its use of the concepts of risk, threat and harm was consistent.12
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2022 The Home Office (the Department) has a significant programme of work underway to enhance its understanding of the illegal population within the UK. This includes the development of a database that brings together the detailed records of every visa overstayer, failed asylum seeker and Foreign National Offender (FNO) in the UK. This database will include the level of harm presented by each of these individuals, together with their level of vulnerability, as well as more conventional demographic details. Taken together with wider transformation of its immigration enforcement capabilities this will give the department more insight, and therefore strengthen its operational effectiveness, in tackling illegal migration and the harm it causes. The department, of course, prioritises risk to public safety in assessing harm, particularly in respect of FNOs who present a risk of recidivist offending. A key method that the department is also using to determine the level of harm caused by illegal migration is to assess the economic harm caused to the UK by their presence, in terms of the cost of labour displacement, the unlawful use of public services and enforcement activity. This economic assessment is at an advanced stage and the department is exploring publication in early 2021. The department is currently considering options for further work with other government departments, academics and interested groups, following the discussions held with the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and other external academics reported in the report published on 21 June 2019.