Written question asked by John Hayes (Conservative) on Tuesday, 23 May 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 25 May 2006. It was answered by Baroness Harman (Labour) on Tuesday, 20 June 2006 on behalf of the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Illegal Immigrants

Question: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many illegal immigrants have been discovered to be employed by her Department in each year since 2001; in what capacities they were employed; how many were discovered as part of a criminal investigation; and what the nature was of the charges brought against them.

Answer: In the last five years, of those employed in my Department, (excluding agency workers, contractors and consultants) one individual was found, in 2005, to be an illegal immigrant. This individual was employed in a full- time post. He was discovered as the result of an Immigration Officer's investigation into his status. He had provided the correct documentation in obtaining his employment with the Department, but was subsequently found to have made a false statement in order to obtain those documents. He was dismissed immediately.

Secondary information