The performance of UK Security Vetting – Report Summary

Summary

Since taking over responsibility for delivering national security vetting in April 2020, the Cabinet Office has failed to get a grip of this vital government service. United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) aims to provide timely processing of clearances for staff employed across government but has failed to meet either of its main two performance targets since mid-2021. Nearly one-third of Developed Vetting (DV – the highest level) clearances in 2022–23 have taken more than 180 days to process, almost double the 95-day target UKSV’s customers expect. While there have been modest improvements in some areas over the latter half of 2022, performance is still well below the standard that UKSV promises its customers, and backlogs of cases remain to be worked through.

Part of the reason for the increase in work relates to policy changes which required additional vetting – something the Cabinet Office was aware of and should have been able to predict would have an impact on the relatively new vetting service. These unacceptable delays in processing clearances could result in departments being unable to progress the work of government. The Cabinet Office, however, does not appear to have fully assessed the potential impact across government. It also seems content to repeatedly extend DV renewals as a means of managing demand, despite the increased risk associated with individuals going many years without a full review of their security clearance. It also has a woeful record on aftercare checks, which should occur between the initial clearance and a full review to confirm someone’s circumstances have not changed. Aftercare targets have not been met once since the start of 2018–19. All this is creating a risk environment that many customers across government are uncomfortable with.

UKSV has suffered from a staffing position that has rarely been sufficient to meet customer demand. In November 2022 its full-time staff complement was 23% below estimated requirement levels. The Cabinet Office sought to prop this up with a promise of an additional 163 contingent labour and temporary staff from other government departments by March 2023, but this is not a long-term solution for an organisation which has historically been under-resourced. UKSV is also desperately struggling to recruit digital staff and internal surveys show low levels of staff engagement.

Alongside failing to deliver an acceptable current level of service, the Cabinet Office and UKSV have failed so far in attempting to modernise and transform how security vetting is delivered. The Cabinet Office has repeatedly blocked transformation business cases from UKSV citing concerns over its deliverability whilst seemingly doing little to support the programme. As such, it is not clear that the current plans for transformation are any more likely to succeed than previous failed efforts, with the governance structure seemingly more of a hinderance than a help.