The Home Office has urged Barking and Dagenham Council to revoke the premises licence for Garip’s Superstore – trading as Costcutter in Farr Avenue – after illegal working was identified at the store.
A council licensing sub-committee will meet at 7pm on Thursday (August 28) to review the licence after the Home Office findings and a representation from the Metropolitan Police.
A Home Office document to be presented at the meeting reveals that the North East London immigration compliance and enforcement team (ICE) visited the Costcutter store on October 10, 2024.
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It said the team had received intelligence to suggest that the business owner was “employing illegal workers for years”, but that the number of workers had “increased” in the last few months prior to the visit.
Upon visiting, immigration officers identified three employees who had “entered the UK illegally” – one in July 2023 and the other two in September 2023.
An illegal working interview was conducted with all three staff members, who all had outstanding asylum claims at the time of the enforcement visit.
It is unclear if the employees’ asylum claims have now been decided.
The officers also spoke with the store supervisor who, according to the Home Office document, answered “I don’t know” when asked what immigration and employment checks are conducted for workers.
Other breaches of licensing conditions were identified by the officers alongside this, including the obstruction of a fire exit and no available staff training logs.
The document said: “Illegal working has taken place at the premises, breaches of conditions have also been evidenced.
“Merely remedying the existing situation (for instance by the imposition of additional conditions or a suspension) is insufficient to act as a deterrent to the licence holder and other premises’ licence holders from employing illegal workers and facilitating disqualified immigrants to work illegally.
“Immigration enforcement asks that the premises licence is revoked.”
Following the visit, a referral was made to the civil penalty compliance team in relation to the illegal working and a penalty of £40,000 was issued.
The employer paid a reduced amount of £28,000 on February 19, according to the document.
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The Metropolitan Police also submitted a statement, supporting the “full revocation” of the shop’s premises licence.
It argued that the venue’s actions “undermine all the licensing objectives due to committing criminal offences”.
The statement said: “It is very concerning that the licence holder will happily have staff members working at the premises having conducted no checks on them all.
“This is irresponsible operating and would appear to be to gain cheaper labour.”
A council report to be presented at the meeting states that the sub-committee may decide on one of a number of actions, including modifying the conditions of the licence, suspending it for up to three months or revoking it completely.
The store’s manager declined to comment.
The Post has also contacted Costcutter’s head office but not received a response.
