§ Mr. LetwinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are in place to ensure that all persons employed by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate are either UK citizens or have valid work permits. [101650]
§ Beverley HughesAll candidates who apply to work for the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) must meet the required eligibility criteria which is set out on each recruitment campaign. For administrative and executive grades candidates must be a British or Commonwealth citizen or a national of a state within the EU with no time limit on their stay in the UK. They should also have normally lived in the UK continuously for the previous three years. For Immigration Service grades candidates must be a UK national with five years residence in the UK.
When a candidate applies for a recruitment campaign their application form is checked to ensure they fulfil the relevant nationality criteria. If they are successful in reaching the interview stage they are then required to produce either a birth certificate or UK, EU or Commonwealth passport. These documents are photocopied and any passport other than a UK or EU document is checked to ensure that the holder has Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK. This means that anyone who is declared successful at interview does not have any restrictions attached to their stay in this country and is allowed to work here.
Prior to offering a start date to any candidate successful on a recruitment scheme enquiries are conducted into suitability for employment. These include security checks, inquiries into health and taking up employment or academic references and personal references. Only when we are content that all inquiries have been completed satisfactorily, will an offer of employment be made.
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§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are employed in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, broken down by grade. [102453]
§ Beverley HughesThe information is as follows:
Directorate: Totals sheet— As at 1 February 2003 Substantive grades Head count of full and part-time staff Senior civil servants 20 Grade 6 39 Grade 7 173 Inspectors 145 Senior executive officer 319 Higher executive officer D 7 Higher executive officer 976 Chief immigration officer 631 Immigration officer 3,127 Executive officer 2,177 Administration officer 2,475 Assistant immigration officer 624 Administration assistant 1,454 Chief typing manager 1 Typist 29 Personal secretary 71 Support grades 347 Industrial 23 Total 12,638