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Departmental Premises (Security)

Volume 448: debated on Wednesday 5 July 2006

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures are in place to ensure that no illegal immigrants are employed in the manned guarding of his Department's premises. (80800)

The Ministry of Defence has a rigorous basic check process, based on Government guidance given in the Cabinet Office's Manual of Protective Security. The basic check is applied to every employee of the MOD, and to contractors' employees working on MOD property. This employment/recruitment check aims to verify identity and nationality details, requires the applicant to declare unspent criminal convictions, and follows up the applicant's employment references.

We are aware that identity fraud is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and we are taking additional measures to increase the likelihood of illegal immigrants being detected before they are employed. These include the introduction across Government of a more rigorous baseline personnel security standard, replacing the basic check.