Council House Cheats to Face Jail

January 11th, 2012

Social housing cheats to face jail

Wednesday 11th January 2012

Tenancy cheats who deny social homes to families in need could be jailed under new Government proposals.

Housing Minister Grant Shapps set out plans to criminalise the abuse of social homes – such as unlawful subletting and key-selling – with a possible two-year jail sentence. He said the plans could free thousands of homes for housing waiting lists. Tenancy cheats can earn thousands of pounds a year renting their social homes out to private tenants – but if caught, may currently face no greater penalty than losing their tenancy.

Shapps wants  introduce specific criminal offences for tenancy fraud, such as those which already exist for social security fraud. Estimates suggest that between 50,000 and 160,000 social homes are currently being unlawfully occupied across the country.

The Minister said the plans would also strengthen councils’ legal rights as landlords to help them detect and prosecute tenancy fraud more effectively and return lost revenue back to local coffers.

Proposals include:

* A new criminal offence with a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to £50,000 if the case goes to the Crown court;
* Proceeds of tenancy fraud to be reimbursed to the social landlord in whose stock the fraud was committed rather than being confiscated by the State;
* More powers for local authorities to investigate social tenancy fraud through better access to data from banks and utility companies. While councils can currently request data, organisations can refuse to provide it. The proposed changes would oblige them to comply.

Shapps said: “Tenancy cheats are taking advantage of a vital support system for some of the most vulnerable people in our society and getting away with a slap on the wrist while our waiting lists continue to grow. It’s time for these swindlers to pay the price. It would cost us billions of pounds to replace the huge number of unlawfully occupied social homes across the country. Meanwhile tenancy cheats can earn thousands of pounds letting out their property, which was given to them in good faith and which could instead be offering a stable home to a family in need. The proposals I’ve announced today would not only deliver justice to these fraudsters, but will also act as a deterrent to those who think they can earn a fast buck from this precious resource. I want everyone to know that our country’s social homes are going to those in genuine need, not providing a ‘nice little earner’ to someone who could afford to live elsewhere.”

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HMRC Announce Serious Tax Fraud Crackdown

January 11th, 2012

HM Revenue & Customs is to introduce tougher procedures for civil fraud investigations later this month. Its new Contractual Disclosure Facility forms part of the Government’s commitment to tackle fraud.

Under the new facility, HMRC will contact a taxpayer, in writing, to inform them that they are suspected of serious tax fraud, and offer them the opportunity to enter into a contract to disclose that fraud within 60 days.

In return, HMRC will agree to not criminally investigate, removing the risk of prosecution. The investigation will then be carried out using civil powers, with a view to a civil settlement for tax, interest and a financial penalty.

Those who choose to not make this commitment will face a full investigation by HMRC – in some cases a criminal investigation with a view to prosecution.  Anyone who signs the contract, but does not go on to admit and disclose fraud, will also face the possibility of a criminal investigation.

Taxpayers who are not under investigation, but who want to admit to tax fraud, may fill out a form to voluntarily request that HMRC considers their suitability for a CDF contractual arrangement. HMRC still retains the discretion to decide which cases are dealt with civilly, and which are investigated with a view to criminal prosecution.

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke, said: “This new facility is a valuable tool which will help HMRC in its fight against fraud. HMRC will set out clearly what is expected of taxpayers, and what will happen to fraudsters who choose not to disclose their crimes.”

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Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre will take single male detainees again from 2012

November 18th, 2011

Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre will take single male detainees again from 2012

Since a fire in 2002, the centre has housed only single women and families awaiting immigration clearance.

The decision to re-introduce men comes after it was ruled that children must not be held at the Bedfordshire centre.

The UK Border Agency said that “lessons have been learnt” since single men were last accommodated there.

Yarl’s Wood Removal Centre, situated between the villages of Clapham and Milton Ernest, cost £100m to build and opened in November 1991 to house 900 immigration detainees.

Half the building was damaged by a fire in February 2002, following a disturbance by detainees which caused £42m of damage and led to the centre’s closure for more than a year.

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UK Border Agency Forces Removal Of Fake Glastonbury University Website

November 9th, 2011

UK Border Agency Forces Removal Of Fake Glastonbury University Website

Source: UKBA

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UK Immigration Rule requiring foreign spouses to be aged over 21 ruled unlawful by Supreme Court paragraph 277 Immigration Rules

November 7th, 2011

Supreme Court finds that UK’s immigration ban requiring spouses to be aged over 21 are unlawful

The Supreme Court has ruled that immigration rules again breach ECHR Article 8 Rights

The Supreme Court has decided that the ban on the entry for settlement of foreign spouses or civil partners unless both parties are aged 21 or over, paragraph 277 of the Immigration Rules, is an lawful way of deterring or preventing forced marriages.

Paragraph 277 of the Immigration Rules was amended in 2008 to raise the minimum age for a person either to be granted a visa for the purposes of settling in the United Kingdom as a spouse or to sponsor another for the purposes of obtaining such a visa from 18 to 21. ASt the time the Government stated that the purpose of this amendment was to deter forced marriages. The rule was controversial from the start and has now been damned by the Supreme Court in a landmark new ruling.

In the linked appeals of R (Quila and another) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and R (Bibi and another) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] UKSC 45 the Supreme Court, by a 4-1 majority, dismissed the Secretary of State’s appeal on the grounds that the refusal to grant marriage visas to the respondents was an infringement of their rights under Article 8 ECHR. Lord Wilson gave the leading judgment; Lady Hale gave a concurring judgment. Lord Phillips and Lord Clarke agreed with Lord Wilson and Lady Hale. Lord Brown gave a dissenting judgment.

The majority determined that the Secretary of State had failed to establish that the interference with the respondents’ rights to a family life was justified under Article 8(2) ECHR.

Lord Wilson said that paragraph 277 has a legitimate aim, namely the protection of the rights and freedoms of those who might be forced into marriage and is rationally connected to that objective, but its efficacy is highly debatable. The Secretary of State had failed to adduce any robust evidence that the amendment would have any substantial deterrent effect. By contrast, the number of forced marriages amongst those refused a marriage visa had not been quantified. The only conclusion that could be drawn was that the amendment would keep a very substantial number of bona fide young couples apart or forced to live outside the UK, vastly exceeding the number of forced marriages that would be deterred. On any view, he said, the measure was a sledgehammer but the Secretary of State had not attempted to identify the size of the nut.

Lord Brown, dissented, stating that the extent of forced marriage is impossible to quantify so the deterrent effect of paragraph 277 could never be satisfactorily determined.

To read the judgment and the Supreme Court’s own press summary, please click here.

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