Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Radcliffe exclusion rule recommended by the Radcliffe Committee of Enquiry into Civil Service Security Procedure remains in force; and if he will make a statement.

The then Prime Minister (Mr Blair) announced to the House on 19 June 1997 (Col WA 246) the creation of the independent Security Vetting Appeals Panel, to hear appeals against the refusal or withdrawal of security clearance. The establishment of the Panel, chaired by a senior retired member of the judiciary, brought to an end the role of the Three Advisers who, since 1948, had been available to consider cases where security clearance was refused or withdrawn on the grounds of subversion. In his statement to Parliament on 27 July 2010, the Prime Minister (Mr Cameron) set out HMG policy on security vetting underlining its critical importance in protecting UK interests and its application to those with access to sensitive Government assets. The Government continues to attach importance to security vetting as part of its work to protect the country and its citizens, but it recognises the rights of individuals to appeal against adverse decisions internally and, if they are aggrieved about the outcome, to appeal to the Panel.