Immigrant workers at council are sacked

Monday 21st June 2010, 7:00PM BST.

Immigrant workers at council are sacked

Six immigrants have been given the sack after being caught working illegally at Wolverhampton City Council, it was revealed today.

In total 16 foreign staff were at Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Walsall and Staffordshire councils, despite not having permission to work in the UK.

Wolverhampton City Council employed a 37-year-old South African computer operator, a bin collector, 36, a clerical assistant, 43, a Zimbabwean specialist support worker, 28, a Zimbabwean care assistant, 30, and a cleaner, 33.

All were either dismissed or resigned once disciplinary proceedings were launched.

It also emerged today a Jamaican social care worker at Staffordshire County Council was sacked for supplying a fake work permit.

Councillor Wendy Thompson, Wolverhampton’s Tory finance chief, said: “It is inexcusable that in one of the worst unemployment areas in the country, people without the right to work here were given jobs without the proper checks.”

She said most workers were employed prior to 2008, when Labour was in charge. At Birmingham, six illegal workers were sacked and three others at Walsall.

Fiona McEvoy, of West Midlands TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “It’s astounding councils have been so lax and allowed these people to slip through the net.”


  1. 1
    English Exile

    What action has been taken against the people that employed them?

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    • Mark Smith

      Spot on. Who ever employed these people obviously did not check their credentials properly. I love my home but I too am an exile and this proves that I made the correct decision when I left. Some one should be held accountable but will they be? I very much doubt it.

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  2. 2
    Uncle De De

    What chance have we got if our own Goverment/Council employ Immigrants Illegally,
    This country just seems to be a big joke at the moment yet people are running round throwing St Georges flags left, right and centre as if they are proud to be English??
    I’ll be proud to be English once this country as got it’s act into gear!

    Report abuse

  3. 3
    careful phd

    As a private hire driver of many years who has to have regular criminal checks and renew my badge every 12 months and let the council know if i sneeze,i find this unbelievable.

    Report abuse

  4. 4
    chris g

    Yes Wendy ,we know Labour was in charge but they didn’t give them the jobs the COUNCIL DID.

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  5. 5
    KEITH

    ‘When Labour was in charge’what kind of reasoning is that? We have just seen the Cons step into Number 10 only to find one of their
    senior officials having to resign over expenses.
    Wendy needs to come off tit for tat road and communicate with chief officers to tackle mismanagement.Who knows what shame MPs will bring to their parties but in the meantime lets not look for excuses just get on with it.
    “Councilors choose your words carefully make them soft and sweet because you never know which words you will have to eat”.

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  6. 6
    KEITH

    ‘When Labour was in charge’what kind of reasoning is that? We have just seen the Cons step into number 10 only to have one of their senior MPs resign over expenses.Wendy needs to come out of tit for tat road and communicate with chief officers in tackling mismanagement within the council,not to look for excuses and overindulgence in blame culture.Who knows what future shame MPs will bring to their parties.
    Councilors choose your words carefully make them soft and sweet……………………or prepare a proper press release.

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  7. 7
    Lumpommer

    Wendy – perhaps you would like to comment on Wolverhampton Homes who are advertising 4 new vacancies with high salaries. However they are making numerous people redundant and paying them massive redundancy pacakages.

    They have the staff to fill these jobs inhouse but they prefer not to use them. This is a blatent waste of taxpayers money.

    Why is it not investigated. Councilliors just bury their heads in the sand and carry on collecting thier expenses.

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  8. 8
    Wolves Born And Bred

    Where the hell was the checks that I have had to go through to gain employment, I have a thick Wolverhampton accent and am obviously from this country and yet I am still required to provide proof that I am eligible to work in the UK and only when have they completed all the checks with all sorts of government agencies did I get any job that I have applied for with various companies in the area.

    I believe they were afraid to perform these checks in fear of people playing the race card……so who do they pick on?……..everyone else!

    Talk about feeling like an outcast in my own country!

    Report abuse

  9. 9
    E11wolf

    Employers who give work to illegals are supposed to be fined? Why hasn’t the council been fined. What is going to happen to the idiots who took the decision to employ these people – there must be someone culpable and he/she must be sacked as a warning to others.

    Get a grip. My son cannot get a job while these spngers – thanks to Labour – get the work. NEVER VOTE LABOUR IF YOU WANT A JOB

    Report abuse

  10. 10
    mr villas

    these individuals circumstances made them to resort to such. they surely paid tax and NI, whilst they will never benefit from thier contributions, how about scroungers, who have never known an honest day’s work.

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  11. 11
    Jeg.

    In the past ive applied for two jobs with the council. . i should have told more fibs!!! On the television shops/companys are fined thousands of pounds for each illegall immigrant that they employ. .I cant see anything in the article how much the fine for the council is???

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  12. 12
    Frank Batkin

    ONLY UNDER THE YEARS OF INNEFICIENCY, WASTE AND GETTING THINGS ON THE CHEAP COULD THIS BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN, THOUGH, SADLY WOLVERHAMPTON, WALSALL, DUDLEY AND BIRMINGHAM ARE NOT ALONE, OVER HERE IN THE U.S IT IS SAID THE NUMBER OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES WHO ARE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IS MEASURED IN THE THOUSANDS.

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