Relaxing work permit rules could risk letting in undesirables, the island’s police chief has warned.

Chief Constable Gary Roberts told a Tynwald scrutiny committee that he had emerging concerns whether changes to the work permit system would lead to persistent offenders from abroad moving here.

Giving evidence to the environment and infrastructure police review committee, Mr Roberts said: ’I have an emerging concern about the work permit system and as you relax the work permit system we can’t use that - and have used that periodically - to have people excluded from the island who shouldn’t be here.

’So if they have terrible convictions and we find them in employment and they start to offend on the island courts would convict them of an offence of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception, which has just changed in the Fraud Bill.

’But essentially, if they told a lie about their convictions then courts would get rid of them. That’s a very powerful thing to do in a small place.

’And just as we relax the work permit laws I think we should keep a weather eye on whether we start attracting the wrong sort of people.

’That’s a very negative sounding phrase but it only takes a hard core of persistent offenders to come to the island to make our lives quite difficult.’

The Chief Constable made the comment as he was asked about the implications on policing of government plans to grow the population.

Committee chairman Rob Callister MHK said: ’We want good people to come to the island who contribute and integrate.

’What we don’t want are people who have got terrible convictions and don’t actually contribute to our society.’

The Chief Constable said the island needed a policy on what its border security should look like and there needed to be a debate on social cohesion and the social implications of a growth in population.

’We don’t want to make the mistakes that other jurisdictions have made,’ he said.

Committee member David Cretney MLC pointed out that some who don’t require a work permit might equally have a background of offending.

He suggested that the island revisits the Residence Act, which provides for the registration of residents.

Royal Assent was granted to the Residence Act in 2001 but it has never been enacted. It was intended to be used only in response to a seriously deteriorating economic or social situation.

Recent changes to work permit rules have seen exemptions expanded, and the removal of the need for an additional work permit for some workers given clearance from Immigration to work.