The Home Office is calling on a North London council to revoke the licence of an Indian restaurant due to its “continual pattern” of employing illegal workers. During a recent visit by immigration officers, a male that had been arrested last year for not having the right to work in the UK was found to still be working at the premises.
Harrow Council will decide whether to strip Mumbai Local, an Indian restaurant on Streatfield Road, of its licence at a meeting of its Licensing Panel next week (August 20). Immigration officers have found people working there illegally on three separate visits dating back to 2023.
The licence review has been triggered by the Home Office due to the owner repeatedly employing people with no right to work in the UK and for paying them “substantially below” minimum wage. A total of eight illegal workers were identified during the three visits, which included the same worker on separate occasions seven months apart.
During the latest inspection of the premises last month (July 17) officers found a man they had arrested last year for illegally working in the restaurant, whilst a woman “disappeared and didn’t return” after telling officers she would get the manager. A Home Office report states that the owner “clearly did not take any corrective action” after previous visits.
Mumbai Local was first visited by the West London Immigration Compliance Enforcement (ICE) team on November 18, 2023, where five men and one woman were found illegally working – four of them did not have the right to work in the UK and two were working in breach of their conditions.
Illegal worker paid £400 in cash for 72 hour shifts
A man cooking in the kitchen initially tried “running away” from officers before being stopped and questioned. During the interview, he admitted to working as a chef at the premises for four months – working 72 hours over six days a week and paid £400 in cash.
The man confirmed that he did not provide any documents to his employer to prove his immigration status and that no right to work checks were carried out. Subsequent Home Office checks showed that he had entered the UK on a visit visa that had expired in December, 2019. A different man was also found to have overstayed their visit visa, which had expired in February, 2018.
Another man admitted to working as a chef for the past six months, doing 10 hour shifts over the weekend for which he was paid £70 a day. He had entered the UK on a student visa in October 2020 but it had expired in April, 2022. A woman was also found working as a chef after entering on a student dependent visa that had expired in July, 2021. She worked three days a week, nine hours a day, and was paid between £500 and £600 a month, cash in hand.
Two other men were found to be working in breach of the conditions of their work visas, one had been sponsored to work within the health care sector whilst the other had a valid skilled workers visa but should not have been employed in a restaurant.
A follow up visit on July 4, 2024, found a man with no right to work in the UK. He was arrested and taken into immigration custody. However, a compliance check on July 17 of this year found that the man arrested the previous year was “still working at the premises”, according to the Home Office report.
The report states that the owner “did not take any corrective action” following the previous visits and that the hourly rates paid to the workers were “substantially below” the national minimum wage, which it describes as “clear labour exploitation”. In reference to the employees, it adds: “Whether by negligence or wilful blindness illegal workers were engaged in activity on the premises.
The Licensing Authority has agreed with the Home Office review request. In a letter to Harrow Council’s Licensing Team, its commercial team lead states: “[The] repeated failings demonstrate serious management deficiencies and a lack of compliance with immigration and licensing law.” A decision will be made by the council’s Licensing Panel next week.
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