New proposals to punish company directors for employing illegal immigrants show the Home Office is bowing to media pressure, an industry official has said.

And Mark Boleat, chairman of trade body the Association of Labour Providers (ALP), also told Recruiter that enforcement of the laws, not punishment, was the key to clamping down on Britain's illegal workforce.

Boleat said: "This proposal shows all the signs of the Home Office reacting to media pressure.

"The Home Office tends not to consult on these things and that's why it keeps getting them wrong. Any proposals such as this we would want more consultation on."

Under the new plans, drawn up by Home Secretary John Reid, company directors could be disqualified for employing illegal workers under a 'two strikes and you're out' rule. Directors would be struck off if their firms were found to be breaching immigration rules on two separate occasions.

However, Boleat takes a dim view of the new plans. "The key issue for the ALP has always been that any laws on immigration are never enforced," he claims.

"The Home Office has got to start taking some responsibility for this."

Boleat's comments are backed up by Tom Hadley, director of external relations at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation.

"One needs to be able to differentiate between firms that are earnestly trying to do the right thing and firms that are consistently flouting the law," he told Recruiter.

"It's no good if one firm is abiding by the rules if they know another company down the road is not."