Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he is taking steps to (a) ensure consistency in the accessibility of departmental communications and (b) support the use of (i) sign language videos, (ii) audio recordings and (iii) other accessible formats in such communications across Departments.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
On 5 February 2024 the government published the final Disability Action Plan together with the independent analysis of the consultation findings. The Disability Action Plan sets out 32 practical actions which the government will take forward over the next 12 months.
Action 28 outlines steps the government is taking to ensure consistency in the accessibility of departmental communications. These steps include the publication of accessible standards, revising and improving guidance, training, and monitoring. The accessibility guidance emphasises the need for government organisations to consider the communication needs of individuals and, where appropriate, the provision of BSL and commonly-requested alternative formats.
In July 2024, the government will publish the second BSL report that will outline what ministerial departments have done to promote and facilitate the use of BSL in their communications with the public. This follows the publication of the first BSL report in July 2023, which included a number of actions to continually improve the government’s use of BSL in public communications (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-british-sign-language-bsl-report-2022)
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of unpaid internships on (a) social mobility and (b) equality of opportunity.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is only responsible for the Civil Service Summer Internship Programmes and the Autism Exchange Internship Programme. It does not oversee any unpaid internships. Both programmes pay the National Living Wage. Internships provide a fantastic opportunity for individuals at the beginning of their career to gain valuable experience in their field regardless of background. Last year, we offered over 500 internships to undergraduates through our Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme and 21.5% of these were to students from Lower Socio-Economic backgrounds.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps he has taken to (a) assess and (b) enhance preparedness in response to nuclear threats.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The United Kingdom has well-developed contingency plans to respond to a wide range of eventualities. The plans and supporting arrangements have been developed, refined and tested over many years.
The scale of these capabilities is driven by classified planning assumptions derived from the United Kingdom’s National Security Risk Assessment. The Government sets out some of the main risks and emergencies that drive this common consequence planning in the National Risk Register.
As part of the UK’s broad emergency response capabilities, there are Local Resilience Forums (LRFs), multi-agency partnerships made up of representatives from local public services such as the NHS, local authorities, emergency services, and others.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the factors contributing to the average waiting time for Developed Vetting clearances; and what steps his Department is taking to help tackle these factors.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The National Audit Office (NAO) investigation into the performance of UK Security Vetting published in January 2023 and the subsequent Public Accounts Committee in February 2023 identified that United Kingdom Security Vetting’s (UKSV) performance was affected by a range of issues including rising customer demand. The demand increased as the employment landscape grew following national lockdowns. Societal pressures and wider events (including conflict in Ukraine) also added to the demand impact.
In 2023, UKSV implemented a stabilisation programme which included an increase in headcount. Under Ministerial direction, UKSV prioritised the recovery of initial Developed Vetting turnaround times, followed by Security Check and Counter Terrorist Check turnaround times. These first two targets were met on time and are now being processed within agreed timescales with a focus on supporting recruitment. UKSV is currently focussing efforts to maintain the performance of these and is making good progress to meet the third target to recover the turnaround times of Developed Vetting review cases.
Departments and relevant Ministers receive regular updates on UKSV’s performance through governance boards and from the UKSV Customer Management Team. Sponsored individuals undergoing a clearance application are able to obtain updates relevant to their own application from the UKSV helpdesk.
The security of our people, assets and information is a Government priority. UKSV are working with departments to better forecast demand and working on both efficiency and technology solutions to maintain long term stability. Furthermore, there is a clear and robust policy in place to support departments in ensuring their employees and contractors are security cleared to the appropriate level based on the information they need to access for their role.
Though often concurrent, National Security Vetting (NSV) is distinct from recruitment processes and only required in some roles.
In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Fifty-Third Report of Session 2022–23 of the Committee of Public Accounts entitled Performance of the UK Security Vetting service, HC 994, published on 12 May 2023, what steps his Department has taken to reduce delays in processing (a) Counter Terrorist Checks, (b) Security Checks and (c) Developed Vetting since the publication of that report.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The National Audit Office (NAO) investigation into the performance of UK Security Vetting published in January 2023 and the subsequent Public Accounts Committee in February 2023 identified that United Kingdom Security Vetting’s (UKSV) performance was affected by a range of issues including rising customer demand. The demand increased as the employment landscape grew following national lockdowns. Societal pressures and wider events (including conflict in Ukraine) also added to the demand impact.
In 2023, UKSV implemented a stabilisation programme which included an increase in headcount. Under Ministerial direction, UKSV prioritised the recovery of initial Developed Vetting turnaround times, followed by Security Check and Counter Terrorist Check turnaround times. These first two targets were met on time and are now being processed within agreed timescales with a focus on supporting recruitment. UKSV is currently focussing efforts to maintain the performance of these and is making good progress to meet the third target to recover the turnaround times of Developed Vetting review cases.
Departments and relevant Ministers receive regular updates on UKSV’s performance through governance boards and from the UKSV Customer Management Team. Sponsored individuals undergoing a clearance application are able to obtain updates relevant to their own application from the UKSV helpdesk.
The security of our people, assets and information is a Government priority. UKSV are working with departments to better forecast demand and working on both efficiency and technology solutions to maintain long term stability. Furthermore, there is a clear and robust policy in place to support departments in ensuring their employees and contractors are security cleared to the appropriate level based on the information they need to access for their role.
Though often concurrent, National Security Vetting (NSV) is distinct from recruitment processes and only required in some roles.
In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Developed Vetting clearance times on the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of (i) civil service personnel in roles requiring high-level security clearance and (ii) other civil service personnel.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The National Audit Office (NAO) investigation into the performance of UK Security Vetting published in January 2023 and the subsequent Public Accounts Committee in February 2023 identified that United Kingdom Security Vetting’s (UKSV) performance was affected by a range of issues including rising customer demand. The demand increased as the employment landscape grew following national lockdowns. Societal pressures and wider events (including conflict in Ukraine) also added to the demand impact.
In 2023, UKSV implemented a stabilisation programme which included an increase in headcount. Under Ministerial direction, UKSV prioritised the recovery of initial Developed Vetting turnaround times, followed by Security Check and Counter Terrorist Check turnaround times. These first two targets were met on time and are now being processed within agreed timescales with a focus on supporting recruitment. UKSV is currently focussing efforts to maintain the performance of these and is making good progress to meet the third target to recover the turnaround times of Developed Vetting review cases.
Departments and relevant Ministers receive regular updates on UKSV’s performance through governance boards and from the UKSV Customer Management Team. Sponsored individuals undergoing a clearance application are able to obtain updates relevant to their own application from the UKSV helpdesk.
The security of our people, assets and information is a Government priority. UKSV are working with departments to better forecast demand and working on both efficiency and technology solutions to maintain long term stability. Furthermore, there is a clear and robust policy in place to support departments in ensuring their employees and contractors are security cleared to the appropriate level based on the information they need to access for their role.
Though often concurrent, National Security Vetting (NSV) is distinct from recruitment processes and only required in some roles.
In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how delays in Developed Vetting clearances are communicated to (a) people and (b) Departments affected; and what steps his Department is taking to help manage the operational impact of such delays.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The National Audit Office (NAO) investigation into the performance of UK Security Vetting published in January 2023 and the subsequent Public Accounts Committee in February 2023 identified that United Kingdom Security Vetting’s (UKSV) performance was affected by a range of issues including rising customer demand. The demand increased as the employment landscape grew following national lockdowns. Societal pressures and wider events (including conflict in Ukraine) also added to the demand impact.
In 2023, UKSV implemented a stabilisation programme which included an increase in headcount. Under Ministerial direction, UKSV prioritised the recovery of initial Developed Vetting turnaround times, followed by Security Check and Counter Terrorist Check turnaround times. These first two targets were met on time and are now being processed within agreed timescales with a focus on supporting recruitment. UKSV is currently focussing efforts to maintain the performance of these and is making good progress to meet the third target to recover the turnaround times of Developed Vetting review cases.
Departments and relevant Ministers receive regular updates on UKSV’s performance through governance boards and from the UKSV Customer Management Team. Sponsored individuals undergoing a clearance application are able to obtain updates relevant to their own application from the UKSV helpdesk.
The security of our people, assets and information is a Government priority. UKSV are working with departments to better forecast demand and working on both efficiency and technology solutions to maintain long term stability. Furthermore, there is a clear and robust policy in place to support departments in ensuring their employees and contractors are security cleared to the appropriate level based on the information they need to access for their role.
Though often concurrent, National Security Vetting (NSV) is distinct from recruitment processes and only required in some roles.
In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to support departments to manage (a) workforce planning and (b) recruitment processes affected by the time taken to complete Developed Vetting clearances.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The National Audit Office (NAO) investigation into the performance of UK Security Vetting published in January 2023 and the subsequent Public Accounts Committee in February 2023 identified that United Kingdom Security Vetting’s (UKSV) performance was affected by a range of issues including rising customer demand. The demand increased as the employment landscape grew following national lockdowns. Societal pressures and wider events (including conflict in Ukraine) also added to the demand impact.
In 2023, UKSV implemented a stabilisation programme which included an increase in headcount. Under Ministerial direction, UKSV prioritised the recovery of initial Developed Vetting turnaround times, followed by Security Check and Counter Terrorist Check turnaround times. These first two targets were met on time and are now being processed within agreed timescales with a focus on supporting recruitment. UKSV is currently focussing efforts to maintain the performance of these and is making good progress to meet the third target to recover the turnaround times of Developed Vetting review cases.
Departments and relevant Ministers receive regular updates on UKSV’s performance through governance boards and from the UKSV Customer Management Team. Sponsored individuals undergoing a clearance application are able to obtain updates relevant to their own application from the UKSV helpdesk.
The security of our people, assets and information is a Government priority. UKSV are working with departments to better forecast demand and working on both efficiency and technology solutions to maintain long term stability. Furthermore, there is a clear and robust policy in place to support departments in ensuring their employees and contractors are security cleared to the appropriate level based on the information they need to access for their role.
Though often concurrent, National Security Vetting (NSV) is distinct from recruitment processes and only required in some roles.
In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department issues guidance for Departments on ensuring (a) fiscal responsibility and (b) propriety in international contract management.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
a) Senior commercial professionals in central government are required to hold a commercial accreditation that demonstrates they meet the People Standards, as agreed by the Civil Service Board. The Commercial accreditation process involves a rigorous day-long capability assessment and ensures that responsible individuals have the commercial skills required to execute their fiscal responsibilities.
b) Professionals responsible for management of relevant international programmes within the FCDO are required to complete the Contract Management Capability Programme, which is grounded in the Contract Management People Standards. The Programme is tiered and provides rigorous training as well as assessment. Again, this ensures that responsible individuals have the skills required to execute their contract management responsibilities.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions the Prime Minister has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential operational readiness of the Government to hold a general election in May.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 26 February, Official Report, PQ 14293.