Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Security Vetting Appeals Panel staff have left that organisation in each year since 2015.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
We centrally hold some of the information requested.
In as far as data is centrally held, I refer the hon. Member to the Civil Service statistics, for the Cabinet Office, at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics
The Declaration on Government Reform (2021) stated: "There is however more we must do to attract a broader range of people to the privilege of public service... It should be natural for people with careers and skills built in business to serve in government for a period, and for those in public service to spend time in organisations which are not dependent on public money... We will develop new entry routes from industry, academia, the third sector and the wider public sector, with flexibility to suit those who want to build a career in government and those who want a shorter tour of duty."
Apr. 09 2024
Source Page: FOI responses published by MOD: week commencing 8 April 2024 (part 1)Found: immigration purposes was removed in November 2018, UK residency criteria still exists for security vetting
Mentions:
1: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con - Life peer) It would clash with the by-election process to introduce a vetting system for hereditaries—but in any - Speech Link
2: Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab - Life peer) point about HOLAC is that all Members of this House are treated equally, except when it comes to the vetting - Speech Link
3: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con - Life peer) places great weight on the advice of HOLAC, but he remains of the view that it should remain focused on vetting - Speech Link
4: Lord Cromwell (XB - Excepted Hereditary) agree—I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, on this, at least: we have nothing to fear from a HOLAC vetting - Speech Link
5: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con - Life peer) process, which is laid down by the Standing Orders of the House, and we have no plans to change the vetting - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Alex Norris (LAB - Nottingham North) The point about vetting has come up frequently. - Speech Link
2: Jess Phillips (Lab - Birmingham, Yardley) Q Difficult choices would have to be made in order to ensure that vetting was happening. - Speech Link
3: Jess Phillips (Lab - Birmingham, Yardley) Would that come up in your vetting?Andy Marsh: To directly answer your question, I don’t know. - Speech Link
4: Jess Phillips (Lab - Birmingham, Yardley) But an automated system that had all of that data on it for vetting would be helpful? - Speech Link
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department provides officials with (a) developed vetting and (b) other security clearances on public interactions.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
All staff are given a security induction when joining the department that includes the required security behaviours, a modified version of this induction is repeated for experienced Civil Servants when a new access pass is required.
Alongside this the Resilience and Security team also offer security briefings to Ministers, staff with security concerns or elevated risk and travel advice for all staff.
All staff are reminded, in writing, on receipt of their vetting clearance, that their actions should meet the standards of behaviour set out in the Civil Service Code and the Civil Service Management and that their behaviour must not place themselves in a position where they could be compromised.
Feb. 29 2024
Source Page: Angiolini Inquiry Part 1 ReportFound: ’ vetting clearance.
Feb. 29 2024
Source Page: Angiolini Inquiry Part 1 ReportFound: ’ vetting clearance.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many civil servants in his Department have a criminal conviction.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As of September 2023, there were 101,276[1] (FTE) staff in post across the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
To provide the quantitative base to answer this PQ, this could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost. This would require manually entering each individual record to extract the data and engaging with all workplaces across England and Wales to ascertain locally managed/ recorded information.
All Ministry of Justice staff are held to high levels of professional and personal conduct and are subject to pre-employment vetting checks to ensure suitability for employment into post. Across the MoJ, all directly employed roles require a minimum of Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) level to enter the organisation and this includes a request of criminal conviction history. For any roles requiring a higher security level, roles may require an enhanced DBS check or be subject to National Security Vetting (NSV) checks which are carried out externally by UK Security Vetting (UKSV).
Across the MoJ, we must act in accordance with the high expectations that the Government and members of the public expect from us to ensure we drive our vision to deliver a world-class justice system that works for everyone. People are at the heart of what we do, and security and safety considerations are paramount in ensuring we welcome the right people to come to work for us to deliver our objectives. This might mean that some people may not ever be considered suitable to hold employment with us because of their background. Criminal conviction history of the applicant, including offence type and length of time since conviction will be assessed during vetting decision making to assess suitability for the role applied.
[1] Workforce management information: MOJ - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to (a) help tackle and (b) vet HM Prison staff to ensure compliance with rules on the smuggling of contraband into prisons; and whether he has had recent discussions with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on a UK-wide approach to this issue.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The vast majority of prison staff are hardworking and dedicated. All HMPPS prison staff are subject to pre-employment vetting checks, including social and digital media vetting checks, to assess whether candidates meet the high standards expected of them to work in HMPPS and assures a standard of resilience upon entry. This vetting is renewed every 10 years.
HMPPS is undertaking a Vetting Reform Programme and applying the recommendations from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Police, Fire & Rescue Services report of 2022: “An Inspection of Vetting, Misconduct and Misogyny in the Police Service” to prisons and probation.
The Department has not held discussions with devolved administrations about vetting but will consider the merits of doing so to ensure processes remain modern and robust across the UK.
We committed to having a zero-tolerance approach to crime in prisons. Our £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including the smuggling of contraband, was completed in March 2022. This investment delivered airport-style enhanced gate security to 42 high-risk sites, implementing routine searching of staff. We have since gone further and installed X-ray baggage scanners at 49 sites and invested into new drug trace detection equipment across the estate.