More than 200 firms fined £9million for illegal working STILL allowed to sponsor foreign workers

GB News can reveal that over 200 companies fined a total of over £9million for illegal working practices have been allowed to continue sponsoring foreign workers to come to the UK.

The GB News investigation, conducted in conjunction with Cambridge Circus Research (CCR) has revealed chaos at the heart of the Home Office’s visa system.

According to official records, 208 companies who were fined a total of £9.3million, have remained on the Home Office’s official visa sponsor register continually since they were fined.

The companies identified by GB News include care companies, fast food outlets, petrol stations, corner shops, bars and cafes, and a car dealership.

According to the Home Office’s guidelines, they will revoke the sponsor licences of companies who are fined two or more times for employing illegal workers, but only if one of those fines is ‘at the maximum amount’.

However they also say they will ‘normally revoke’ the licences of companies which ‘fail to comply’ with any of their sponsor duties, which include ‘complying with our immigration laws, including all parts of the Worker and Temporary Worker sponsor guidance’.

The guidelines also explicitly state that they ‘will normally revoke’ the licences of companies which receive two or more fines for illegal working, or where they are sponsoring a worker ‘subject to immigration control’ and ‘that worker does not have immigration permission to work in the UK or do the work in question’.

It is unclear which, if any, of the more than 200 companies met the Home Office's guidelines which would usually result in having their sponsor licences revoked.

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Commenting on this Chris Philp MP, Shadow Home Secretary, told GB News: "It is totally unacceptable for any company to hire illegal workers.

"There must be tougher criminal sanctions for those who break the law to get cheap labour. It is a shame Shabana Mahmood does not have the backbone to crack down on illegal working or end mass low-skilled migration with a cap on the number of people coming set at a low level.

"That is exactly what the Conservatives will do."

Rob Bates, of the Centre for Migration Control, told GB News: “The register of sponsors is a complete mess. A plaything for unscrupulous businesses many of which play fast and loose with immigration law. A complete overhaul is required.”

GB News has contacted the Home Office for comment.