Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the relationship between enforcement activity and a) arrests, b) convictions and c) sentencing outcomes for immigration offences.

The Government has made a strategic shift in Border Security, focusing on long-term systemic improvements, smarter, intelligence-led interventions and stronger partnerships across agencies.

The Border Security Command (BSC), established in July 2024, provides cross system leadership—bringing together the National Crime Agency, police, intelligence agencies, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force—to prioritise intelligence led operations that disrupt organised immigration crime, illegal working and associated harms. In May we launched a new Organised Immigration Crime Domestic taskforce to transform the way in which police respond to the threat of organised immigration crime.

There is a clear relationship between enforcement activity and arrests. Published Home Office data shows that, from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025, Immigration Enforcement teams carried out over 11,000 illegal working visits (up 51% year on year) which resulted in more than 8,000 arrests (up 63%). Detentions following those visits rose by 75% and returns recorded after a visit rose by 11%. These figures demonstrate that sustained, intelligence led operational activity leads to more arrests and case progression.

Convictions and sentencing outcomes are a matter for the independent Crown Prosecution Service and the Courts.