Feb. 29 2024
Source Page: Angiolini Inquiry Part 1 ReportFound: ’ vetting clearance.
Correspondence Dec. 05 2023
Committee: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs CommitteeFound: We are therefore unable to comment on Lord Cameron’ s vetting.
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)
Feb. 22 2024
Source Page: Scottish Government Minister Security Clearances: FOI releaseFound: ministers, including the First Minister, required to be security cleared by United Kingdom Security Vetting
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to improve procedures for (a) hiring and (b) vetting nursing staff.
Answered by Will Quince
National Health Service trusts are required to have robust and effective policies and processes aligned to employment law and good human resources practice when considering hiring staff for any NHS position, including nursing positions. Employers are required to carry out a range of vetting requirements as part of recruitment and ongoing employment checks in compliance with the NHS Employment Check Standards. These standards are aimed at supporting employers to ensure individuals are of sound character and have the appropriate qualifications, skills, and competency to properly and safely perform the tasks required of them. Further information about employment standard and regulation is available at the following link:
www.nhsemployers.org/recruitment/employment-standards-and-regulation
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2024 to Question 8310 on Armed Forces: Applications, what the average length of time was for vetting prospective personnel seeking to join the Army to a baseline personnel security standard in each year since 2010.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Based on current data held, and subject to the information provided by the candidate, a Counter Terrorist Check, which is conducted only for overseas candidates, takes an average of eight to 10 weeks; Basic Checks (Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), Disclosure Scotland and Access Northern Ireland (ANI)) takes on average two weeks; and Enhanced DBS takes on average four weeks. Developed Vetting (DV) is not recorded during the recruitment process as it is only completed, when necessary, once individuals have joined the Army.
The average length of time for vetting prospective personnel seeking to join the Army is not held in the format requested. The Army’s Recruiting Group is not required to record this information within the Recruiting Partnering Project contract with Capita.
Mar. 26 2024
Source Page: FOI responses published by MOD: week commencing 25 March 2024Found: immigration purposes was removed in November 2018, UK residency criteria continues to exist for security vetting
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2024 to Question 8310 on Armed Forces: Applications, what the average length of time was for a person joining the Army to be vetted for a (a) counter-terrorist check, (b) security check, (c) enhanced security check and (d) developed vetting level in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Based on current data held, and subject to the information provided by the candidate, a Counter Terrorist Check, which is conducted only for overseas candidates, takes an average of eight to 10 weeks; Basic Checks (Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), Disclosure Scotland and Access Northern Ireland (ANI)) takes on average two weeks; and Enhanced DBS takes on average four weeks. Developed Vetting (DV) is not recorded during the recruitment process as it is only completed, when necessary, once individuals have joined the Army.
The average length of time for vetting prospective personnel seeking to join the Army is not held in the format requested. The Army’s Recruiting Group is not required to record this information within the Recruiting Partnering Project contract with Capita.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much United Kingdom Security Vetting spent on equality and diversity training in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
On 2 October, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a value for money audit of all EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) spending in the Civil Service.
The audit will dovetail with the public sector productivity review, aiming at delivering a leaner, more efficient government. The audit forms part of our drive to improve productivity across the public sector by driving down waste and improving performance.
The findings and actions of the audit will be announced in due course.