Concrete firm cleared by Home Office after probe into the status of employees

NORTHERN Ireland concrete company FP Mccann has said it’s been cleared by the Home Office of any wrongdoing following a raid it carried out on a site in north Wales.

A spokesman for the Magherafelt-based firm said it was issued with a no action notice after Home Office immigration enforcement officers raided the site, a former paper mill, on March 19 to investigate the status of staff working on the site.

He said: “Following a detailed inquiry into a number of workers on site, it has been quickly established that all FP Mccann Limited employees were suitably qualified to work in the UK.

“The notice issued on April 11 is confirmation that the company is not liable for a civil penalty under section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. The notification is in respect to an investigation in March by Home Office immigration enforcement officers on a construction site in north Wales.”

The Home Office has said it wrongly stated that FP McCann and another firm had been “handed” fines worth a combined £400,000 for employing illegal workers. It clarified that it had in fact referred the firms for a civil penalty notice.

That has now resulted in the ‘no action’ notice given to FP Mccann.

FP Mccann said it had provided the Home Office with information to satisfy it of the company’s “very comprehensive anti-slavery position adopted by the company both in relation to its direct employees and also articulating that to the subcontract network”.

He said the company was “content” that the matter had been closed and said he wished to acknowledge “the swift and immediate investigative action undertaken by the Home Office and the validation of our strict illegal immigration policies and procedures”.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Following an enforcement visit on March 19, a number of contractors were found to be working illegally.

“However, our subsequent investigation has established that FP Mccann were not liable for the employment of these workers and a No Action Notice was issued to the company by the Home Office on 11 April.

“FP Mccann have fully co-operated with the Home Office in our investigation into the discovery of the illegal workers, which is still ongoing.”

‘That has resulted in the ‘no action’ notice given to the firm’