Asian Restaurateurs (Immigration Enforcement)

Jessica Morden Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd April 2014 Westminster Hall

[Nia Griffith]

That is a good point. It was distressing to hear some of the stories that we heard last week, which is why I have secured the debate. The meeting that was held last week brought a delegation of Asian restaurant owners from south Wales to the Houses of Parliament for a meeting arranged by my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty). He had invited representatives from the immigration enforcement service to attend, but they were unfortunately unable to do so at short notice. However, my right hon. Friend the Member for Delyn (Mr Hanson), Labour’s shadow Immigration Minister, attended, and I am grateful for his presence today, even though the rules of debate mean that he does not have an opportunity to make the case from the Opposition Front Bench.

As my right hon. Friend the shadow Minister said last week, we all agree that we need strict border security and proper enforcement of immigration rules, but the way in which some Asian restaurant owners have been treated by immigration enforcement officers is nothing short of disgraceful, and it is damaging to business. Times are tough, so to have immigration officers arriving at 7 o’clock on a Friday evening, causing distress among the customers, slamming the doors and handcuffing the chefs before they can even turn off the cookers is simply not acceptable. It causes not only immense financial loss on the evening in question, but irreparable damage to the reputation of that restaurant, particularly in a small town, and it will take years to rebuild customers’ confidence in returning to the restaurant. That is an acute embarrassment. Sadly, in some cases, it was even found that there were no substantive grounds for going there in the first place, so it was a complete waste of taxpayers’ money.

The debate coincides with the publication last month of the report by the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration on the use of the power to enter business premises without a magistrate’s search warrant. The report makes the point that two thirds of visits to business premises lack the necessary justification. Although the report focuses on a particular issue, it highlights more general points, such as widespread non-compliance with the guidance and lack of oversight procedures by senior management, who seem to have quite limited knowledge of the power as it is being used in practice. The report highlights visits on purely speculative grounds and inadequate staff training. It mentions that significant numbers of staff and management were either ignorant of, or choosing to ignore, the guidance. It also highlights a lack of understanding of what constitute suitable grounds for a visit, and gives an example of how an allegation should be backed up by any available data from, for example, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend talks about restaurants, but shops are also getting caught up in the problem. A judge recently threw out a case relating to a business in my constituency, and when the business was finally awarded costs, it received a fresh visit from immigration enforcement officers the next day. Although we all want the authorities to carry out their jobs properly, does she see how a business might feel particularly targeted in such circumstances?

[Nia Griffith]

My hon. Friend describes a distressing case. That procedure being repeated unnecessarily was not only distressing for the shop owner but a waste of public money. In fairness, the inspector says in his report that the Home Office began to look at procedures that he was highlighting as he carried out the inspection, but there is clearly a lot of work to be done in that respect. Last week, we heard about the distressing nature of the raids. We also heard about immigration officers inspecting documents, saying that they were okay and then returning two weeks later to say that they were not okay. If the immigration officer himself or herself cannot identify the documents, it puts the restaurant owner in a difficult place.

The Asian Catering Federation says that the problem applies not only to Indian restaurants but to Chinese takeaways and Malaysian, Sri Lankan, Thai, Vietnamese, Pakistani and Japanese restaurants. The federation stresses that it wants to co-operate and that the matter is extremely important to it.

I turn briefly to what needs to be done. First, there must be continued dialogue with the restaurant owners. The federation said that whereas previous visits had taken the form of terrorist-type raids, some progress had been made. None the less, what restaurants are still experiencing—the shutting down of restaurants at peak time, and the aggressive approach of the enforcement officers, who give them no opportunity to explain to customers what is happening or even to answer the phone—has been extremely damaging to their businesses. That is the first thing: we need continued dialogue, because law enforcement is always better with collaboration and not antagonism.

Secondly, the concerns in the report clearly must be addressed. Thirdly, the whole issue of reasonable grounds for visits must be looked into: why have these visits been decided on in the first place? My hon. Friend the Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden) gave a clear example relating to that. The Asian Catering Federation wants to co-operate and give the required information, but it must be done in a way that works for businesses, as well as for the immigration enforcement service.

I would like the Minister to look into the matter thoroughly and take very seriously the distress and problems caused to the industry, which is a phenomenal success story in bringing money into the British economy. I hope that she tries to find ways in which immigration enforcement can be properly carried out without disruption to many businesses that, in tough times and particularly in less well-off areas, are finding it difficult to keep going.