asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress has been made on the production of a code of practice in relation to the civil penalty provisions of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; and when implementation of those provisions will commence. [HL1457]
Clandestine entry into the United Kingdom, particularly in road haulage vehicles, has become a major abuse of the immigration control in recent years. The number of clandestine entrants identified is currently running at about 2,000 each month and the Government are determined to take action to tackle this growing problem.Part II of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 provides for a penalty for each clandestine entrant carried to be levied on the person or persons responsible. It also provides for the detention in certain circumstances of the transporter or vehicle in which the clandestine entrants arrived against payment of the penalty.The civil penalty is an important measure to enable us to deal effectively with an escalating problem. It will be implemented on 3 April 2000 in relation to clandestine entrants arriving in road vehicles.We have consulted widely with a number of representative bodies on a Code of Practice for vehicles to prevent the carriage of clandestine entrants. The draft Code of Practice for Vehicles, which has been amended to take account of comments expressed during the consultation process, was laid before Parliament on 3 March and will come into force on 3 April.