A
group set up to tackle illegal working in the UK has met for the first time.
The
group includes representatives from business, trades unions and the Commission
for Racial Equality and is chaired by Home Office minister Beverley Hughes.
The
Government says illegal working by people who are in the UK illegally or by
those who have no right to work here fuels the underground economy and can
create unfair competition. The Government claims it also leaves workers
vulnerable to dangerous conditions, poor pay and exploitation from unscrupulous
employers and criminal trafficking gangs.
The
new group will help the Government to uncover the scale of the problem and
encourage employers to take steps to make sure that the workers they employ are
legal. It will also help to devise other solutions to the problem.
Hughes
said: "The Government is opening up more ways for people to come and work
here in ways which boost our economy and offer opportunities for those from
less developed countries. Those who come here to work, however, must use these
legitimate economic migration routes."
