Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Accepted
UK Security Vetting has experienced persistent and significant understaffing since inception.
Conclusion
UKSV has been under-staffed to meet customer demand forecasts since its inception in 2017, which has had negative impacts on its performance. In April 2021, when demand surged following the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions, UKSV had 669 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff against the 985 FTE it expected to need to meet forecast demand during 2021–22, a shortfall of 316 FTE (32%). Despite seeking to recruit throughout the financial year, by March 2022 UKSV still had a 237 FTE shortfall against its requirement for that year. Based on customer demand forecasts for 2022–23, UKSV estimated it would require 1,145 staff for that year but by November 2022, UKSV had increased its FTE headcount number to only 877 (23% short of estimated need).34 The gap between actual staff and the forecast need for staff is shown at Figure 1. 29 C&AG’s Report, Figure 2 30 Q 12 31 C&AG’s Report, para 1.9 and Figure 6 32 Q 30 33 Q 34 34 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.9, 2.10 and Figure 9 14 The performance of UK Security Vetting Figure 1 – UK Security Vetting’s actual headcount (FTEs) vs forecast required headcount, April 2021 to November 2022 Source: C&AG’s Report, Figure 9 on Page 32
Government Response Summary
The government states it has implemented measures to address understaffing by securing funding and approvals for a temporary surge of contingent labour and fixed-term contracts for 2023-24 to clear backlogs and stabilise performance.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.2 UKSV has identified a requirement for a temporary surge of contingent labour and fixed term contracts for the financial year 2023-24 to support the meeting of customer demand and stabilisation of performance through clearance of the backlog of cases. Burden-share partners have agreed to fund this surge. The Cabinet Office has provided UKSV with the necessary approvals. There have been significant efforts over several months to recruit to the levels needed, and although UKSV is operating in a challenging market, good progress has been made. 4.3 In addition to recruitment, the training and deployment of staff into the vetting process is a significant undertaking and UKSV has redirected the majority of its enabling resources to support this activity. UKSV currently assesses that the funding and approvals are appropriate for the demands of the programme but will review this jointly with customers and Cabinet Office approvals teams in September 2023. 4.4 On the transformation programme, progress has been made on recruiting digital professionals to support the existing in-house IT delivery model. This remains a significant area of risk given the competitive market conditions for these skills. The outputs of the ongoing digital discovery exercise will inform the resourcing model and wider delivery approach for transformation moving forward. This approach will be set out in an Outline Business Case for consideration in October 2023.