Recommendation 3

We are concerned about the level of risk created by the Cabinet Office’s decision to repeatedly defer renewals for DV clearances. Existing DV clearances are 6 The performance of UK Security Vetting normally reviewed after seven years to ensure that individual’s circumstances have not materially changed and that the initial clearance remains valid. Scheduled and unscheduled aftercare checks in the period between renewals should capture any changes in circumstance that might impact on the clearance. However, UKSV has failed to meet its target for aftercare checks since the start of 2018–19; and to manage demand, the Cabinet Office Government Security Board decided to extend most DV renewal clearances in 2018, 2019, and 2020. In 2021–22, the consequent backlog of renewals overwhelmed UKSV and in April 2022 the Government Security Steering Group directed UKSV to extend renewals yet again, so UKSV could focus on reducing the backlog of new DV clearances that had developed. UKSV and its customers acknowledge that continually deferring renewals creates risks that are uncomfortable. UKSV claims that, as it has always adopted a risk-based approach to deferrals, that any renewals with known red flags were still thoroughly reviewed. It also argues that prioritising new DV clearances rather than renewals was a sensible risk-based decision. Focusing on new DV clearances, however, also placed further pressure on UKSV’s processing of CTC/SC clearances, which saw clearance times increase and backlogs grow even higher in 2022. Recommendation 3: The Cabinet Office should develop a plan for how it intends to avoid repeatedly extending DV renewals going forward, and set out the key elements of this plan in its Treasury Minute response. The plan should include, for example: • when it expects to be able to renew all DV clearances rather than automatically extending low-risk cases • how it intends to provide the additional staff resources required to renew all DV clearances • what steps i