Additional statistics relating to Illegal Migration (to end September 2023)
Updated 26 April 2024
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-relating-to-the-illegal-migration-bill/additional-statistics-relating-to-illegal-migration-to-end-september-2023
The Minister for Immigration’s Oral Statement to the House on 24 October 2023 refers to a number of new statistics derived from Home Office operational systems. This note provides a record of where the data is available, and plans for publication if not already published.
A selection of statistics from Home Office operational systems relating to the Illegal Migration Act were initially published on 24 April 2023 to support the parliamentary debate and have been subsequently updated on a number of occasions, most recently to include data to the end of August 2023.
Following the agreement reached with the Government of Albania there has been an increase in numbers of returns of Albanian nationals, both enforced returns and voluntary. Between January and September 2023 there were 1,668 enforced returns of Albanian nationals (compared to 717 in the same period last year) and 2,271 voluntary returns (compared to 646 in the same period last year).
Since the signing of the Joint Communiqué in December 2022, 4,108 Albanian nationals have been returned. This includes people who were returned within 48 hours after arriving by small boat.
Returns data is published as part of the quarterly Home Office Immigration system statistics.
The next update of the quarterly Home Office Immigration system statistics will be published on 23 November 2023. The above data has been extracted from live operational databases and therefore may differ from the data published in the Immigration system statistics.
The volume of visits carried out by the Home Office to check for people working illegally has increased by 68% in 2023 to 4,721 in the period January to September, compared to 2,808 in the same period in 2022.
The volume of people arrested and then detained after being encountered on a visit also increased, with 5,576 arrested and 1,964 detained between January and September 2023, compared to 2,175 arrested and 739 detained in the same period last year.
The number of civil penalties issued for illegal working between January and September 2023 (1,220) has increased compared to the same period last year (581). Penalties issued to landlords have increased to 75 in 2023 from 24 when compared to the same period in 2022.
The number of asylum decision makers (headcount) was over 2,500 in September 2023. This is a 156% increase when compared to the same month last year, when there were fewer than 1,000 (987) decision makers.
Data on the volume and value of civil penalties issued and the number of asylum decisions makers is provisional. Finalised data for September 2023 will be published on 23 November 2023 in the Home Office Migration transparency statistics.