Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration enforcement visits have been carried out at barbering premises in the UK over the past five years; and how many arrests and civil penalties resulted from those visits.

The Home Office does not hold data on immigration enforcement activity at the level of detail requested. Illegal working enforcement activity is recorded by broader business sectors and enforcement outcomes, not by specific sub-sectors such as barbering premises. As a result, we are unable to provide figures on the number of immigration enforcement visits carried out at barbering premises, or the number of arrests and civil penalties arising from those visits.

A breakdown of illegal working enforcement activity is available in the Home Office publications which can be accessed at:

Our published national data on enforcement activity is available at the following link Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2026 - GOV.UK

Details of illegal working activity is available at the following link: Illegal working and enforcement activity to the end of June 2026 - GOV.UK

Details of civil penalties is available at the following link: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK

There is an increase in operational activity at barbering premises due to an increased focus on Organised Immigration Crime and high cash volume business. These operations are increasingly conducted in partnership through Op Lockstream and Op Machinize bringing together policing, NCA, Trading Standards, HMRC and local authorities with Immigration Enforcement to tackle high street crime. All Immigration Enforcement activity is intelligence led.

Between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2026, Immigration Enforcement teams have now made over 17,000 arrests on illegal working visits, a 122% increase on the two-year period immediately prior. Teams have carried out almost 25,000 visits across the UK to businesses suspected of using illegal workers, marking a 111% increase.

We have made a huge investment in our Immigration Enforcement service, and investment is set to double by 2029, alongside a 60% increase in enforcement officers enabling us to increase enforcement activity further.