To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have been in respect of attempts to assist people to enter the UK illegally in each of the last five years. (317259)

Statistics on persons proceeded against for offences under the Immigration Acts 1971 to 2006 in England and Wales by offence description are provided by the Ministry of Justice and are published annually. Information for 2004 to 2008 has been published in Table 3.4 of the Control of Immigration: Statistics, United Kingdom—2008 publication which are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office’s Research, Development and Statistics website at:

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html