Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 1
1
Accepted
UK Security Vetting is the main government provider of national security clearances.
Conclusion
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Cabinet Office about the performance of UK Security Vetting (UKSV).1 UKSV, which sits within the Cabinet Office, is the main government provider of national security vetting. Security vetting provides assurance on individuals working with government assets and classified information. There are several different types of vetting levels with the most common being Counter Terrorist Checks (CTC), Security Checks (SC) and Developed Vetting (DV). DV clearance is the most complex and allows individuals access to more sensitive government information and assets than CTC or SC clearance.2
Government Response Summary
The government has made strong progress in the Delivery Stabilisation Programme, with significant increases in vetting case completions and reduced turnaround times, supported by new surge resources. It has set milestones to fully stabilise vetting services for DV Initials by June 2023, SC/CTC by September 2023, and DV Reviews by March 2024.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. through the first phase of the Delivery Stabilisation Programme (DSP) which seeks to address the immediate operational performance challenge and recover vetting services. Strong progress has been made in Financial Year 2022-23 and UKSV is now completing 9.4% more Security Check (SC) / Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) and 52% more Developed Vetting (DV) cases each month on average. Completion levels for DV clearances in the DSP are the highest on record since UKSV’s inception in 2017, and turnaround times for initial DV clearances (DVi) have reduced by over half. UKSV plans to meet the agreed customer key performance indicator (KPI) for DVi in June 2023 and to sustain performance thereafter. To ensure continued progress, UKSV have mobilised a secondary phase of the DSP with a full programme wrap around in place. Ministers have agreed a significant injection of surge resources into UKSV for financial year 2023-24 including His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs Surge personnel and operational staff. UKSV have set out the following milestones to fully stabilise vetting services: a) DV Initials fully stabilised by the end of June 2023 b) SC/CTC fully stabilised by the end of September 2023 c) DV Reviews fully stabilised by the end of March 2024 UKSV will continue to focus on sustainable changes to drive productivity and efficiency in order to maintain performance levels. This will primarily be achieved through quick win process efficiencies, as well as larger automation and technological changes that will drive productivity in the existing environment but can also be repurposed as UKSV migrates to the new platform under the Vetting Transformation Programme (VTP).