Recommendation 16

The Cabinet Office was keen to point to UKSV’s use of surge staff from other departments,37 although there were just 13 such staff between January and November 2022 alongside about 50 contingent labour staff (see also Figure 1).38 It said the use of more contingent labour solved the need to fit within wider Civil Service aspirations around headcount numbers, although “by the time you recruit, you vet and you train, it takes a long time.”39 The Cabinet Office expects UKSV to maintain its own headcount number at no higher than 832 FTEs at March 2023. It has, however, authorised an additional 163 contingent labour and temporary staff from other government departments, bringing the total to 995, still 160 short of the estimated requirement of 1,145. UKSV aims to bridge that gap through efficiencies and automation of processes coming out of its delivery stabilisation plan.40 As well as internal changes to increase productivity, the Cabinet Office told us UKSV was working with departments to improve the accuracy and completeness of applications, to reduce the amount of remedial action required from UKSV staff, which restricts their productivity.41 35 Q30 36 C&AG Report, Figure 8 37 Qq 40, 41 38 C&AG’s Report, Figure 9 39 Q 43 40 C&AG’s Report, para 2.10 41 Q 50 The performance of UK Security Vetting 15