A £30MILLION “bounty hunter” contract to clear a backlog of 181,000 illegal immigration cases has not removed a single person from Britain in its first two months.
Capita have contacted 8,000 migrants to date
Now the contract, which involves e-mailing and texting people to ask when they will be leaving the country, faces collapse due to a suspected breach of the migrants’ rights under data protection laws.
The Information Commissioner has launched an investigation into the deal between the UK Border Agency and Capita.
It follows concerns from MPs on the Home Affairs Committee that the outsourcing giant has accessed details from visa application forms it had no right to see.
About 8,000 migrants have been contacted to date. If illegality is found, the UKBA could face compensation claims from people who do not have the right to be in Britain.
Capita’s chief executive Paul Pindar told MPs he was not “aware” of a problem.
The MPs’ concerns centre on the “migration refusal pool”. This includes people recorded as not having permission to stay here but whose status or whereabouts is not known.
Some may have left the country, or have another visa to stay here legally.
Capita is paid £4million to contact people and can earn £26million in bonuses if it meets a target of confirming 36,000 have left Britain. More than 80 staff work on the project in Darlington.
Last month it emerged Capita wrongly sent texts to UK citizens telling them to leave.
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