Exclusive: Middlesbrough restaurant fined £15,000 for breaking immigration law
Plus: Help the world's oldest railway station, and Wes Streeting in Middlesbrough
I know you will have heard a thousand people say it already this week, but, “Ooh, hasn’t the weather turned?”
I should stop myself from writing such clichéd openings, but it feels impossible given how close I was to tears on the school run yesterday morning because of how cold it was. Hopefully those of you a little further from the North Sea coast have had a better time of it.
It’s been a month since the relaunch of The Teesside Lead, and hasn’t that time flown? In that brief time we’ve already interviewed a former-PM, revealed an MP’s court summons, covered a crazy committee meeting, and looked into the saga of the Linthorpe Road cycle lane.
And it’s on Linthorpe Road we start this edition…
A Middlesbrough curry house has lost its appeal after it was found to be employing a migrant who had no legal right to work.
Akbar’s on Linthorpe Road was issued a £15,000 fine by the Home Office in March 2023 after it was found to be employing a man who had overstayed his leave to remain.
The worker was found in the Middlesbrough restaurant’s kitchen by Home Office officials who confirmed, after interviewing him and other staff, that he was there under a contract of employment. In cross-referencing the worker’s details with its own records, the Home Office concluded he had no right to work in the UK.
An appeal hearing was held on 5 November (which you can watch on YouTube here if you really want to do that to yourself), and the judgement by Lord Justice Zacaroli was published last week.
In its complaint, the restaurant said the government had served it with a fine on the basis it had employed a person whose visa conditions restricted them from working, something it denied.
Akbar’s solicitors made its argument to the government’s legal team, and according to the judgement, a junior member of that team mistakenly confirmed the position being argued by the restaurant. In reality, the worker had overstayed their visa and was not subject to any conditions because they had no right to be in the country.
Because of the government trainee solicitor’s error, the appeal was taken to the Court of Appeal, the highest possible court, to resolve.
The Home Office did not provide a comment in time for The Teesside Lead’s publication deadline.
Akbar’s solicitors complained that the government had not provided proof that the employee in question was not permitted to work in the UK. However, Lord Justice Zacaroli wrote in his judgement that according to the law: “The onus is squarely placed on an employer… to carry out necessary checks on those that it employs.”
Akbar’s argued the fine should be cancelled because the government had changed its reason for why it had been issued in the first place. However, the judge said that despite the “confusing” email exchange from the junior solicitor, it was “clear” the fine had been issued because the worker in question was an overstayer.
“That was,” the judge wrote, “the position clearly taken in the evidence and submissions advanced,” on behalf of the government.
The Akbar’s chain was founded in Bradford in 1995 and now has ten restaurants. Founder Shabir Hussain died last month at the age of 59. The legal appeal was made on behalf of Akbar Restaurant (Middlesbrough) Ltd, the company for the Middlesbrough franchise.
Neither Akbar’s nor its solicitors responded to requests for comment.
Teesside stories you may have missed…
🗺️ The James Cook Museum is being kept open thanks to a mystery benefactor
👨⚕️ Middlesbrough MPs discuss the Assisted Dying Bill
⛴️ The FT looks at the potential for Teesport and Teesworks
🏖️ Saltburn is named one of the best places to relocate in the UK because of its low property prices
Health Secretary visits Middlesbrough
Health Secretary Wes Streeting started his “NHS roadshow” in Middlesbrough on Saturday, as he tours England to start to put together the country’s 10-year health plan.
Appearing with NHS England Chief Executive, Amanda Pritchard, Mr Streeting told the Local Democracy Reporting Service why he started the “roadshow” on Teesside.
“I wanted to kick off the conversation here so that as we’re putting together the 10 year plan for the future of the NHS, we’re not just involving the usual suspects – the policy wonks in Westminster – but we’re involving the general public and crucially the patient voice so that their fingerprints are on the plan for the future of their health service.”
Local Democracy Reporter, Daniel Hodgson provides detail on the issues facing the area in terms of health:
Middlesbrough suffers from both obesity and poverty, with a Middlesbrough Council report stating that in July 2023, an estimated 71% of adults in the council area were either overweight or obese. Additionally, at last week’s Multibank launch, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said 200,000 children in the North East were living in poverty. On top of this, the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019 outlined that six of Middlesbrough’s wards were in the top 1% most deprived in England.
Mr Streeting told people at the event he had spent time with Redcar MP, Anna Turley, “looking at the Hospital at Home Service that is active across Redcar and Cleveland, seeing first hand the difference that is making, providing care in the home. We met a guy who would otherwise, with his urinary tract infections, be in and out of hospital, instead he’s just being looked after at home. It’s made a massive difference to his life and his care.”
The 10-year plan for the NHS in England is due to be published in May 2025.
World’s oldest railway station “at risk”
When I first left home I moved to Manchester. It still inhabits a romantic place in my mind as my “first city”. It also claims to be the first industrial city, as home to many developments during the industrial revolution, including the first passenger railway station in 1830 - or so I thought.
That distinction belongs to Heighington Station, built in 1826 on the Stockton and Darlington line.
Last week, it was added to English Heritage’s At Risk Register, which lists nearly 5,000 endangered historical sites at risk of neglect and decay.
Research by volunteers at the Friends of the Stockton and Darlington Railway confirmed Heighington Station - or Aycliffe Lane as it was originally known - was operational four years before Manchester’s Liverpool Road. The discovery prompted Historic England to elevate Heighington’s listed status from Grade II to Grade II*, noting it as being of “particularly important interest.”
Friends of the Stockton and Darlington Railway are hoping to raise half a million pounds to restore the station and open it to the public in time for its 200th anniversary.
You can chip in at this link.
And that’s another edition done and dusted!
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Thanks for reading, and keep wrapped up! 🥶🥶🥶
Leigh