‘Unacceptable’ vetting delays hampering national security, says watchdog

The National Audit Office said ‘meaningful reform’ at UK Security Vetting is essential.

Whitehall street sign (Lauren Hurley/PA) (PA Wire)

An “unacceptable” level of delays in carrying out essential security checks on government officials is hampering vital national security work, the Whitehall spending watchdog has warned.

The National Audit Office (NAO) said UK Security Vetting (UKSV) – the Cabinet Office body responsible – has seen its performance fall to its worst level since it was created in 2017.

It blamed an inability to recruit and retain the staff it needs and an “old and unstable” IT system for the problems, and called on the Cabinet Office to set out a plan for “meaningful reform”.

UKSV carries out thousands of checks every year on staff working in government departments and other public sector bodies – as well as some private sector industries such as aviation.

Unacceptable delays continue to hamper security vetting, which is of vital importance to the effective functioning of government

Gareth Davies, NAO

However the NAO said that every month since August 2021, when the demand for vetting picked up again with the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, UKSV has failed to meet its performance target.

In September 2022, only 15% of routine counter-terrorist checks (CTC) and security checks (SC) were completed within 25 days against a target of 85%.

For the more complex developed vetting (DV) checks, for staff with access to the most sensitive material, the target is to complete 85% within in 95 days – but that fell to a low of just 7% in April 2022.

The NAO said that despite additional recruitment, by November 2022 UKSV was still 268 full-time equivalent staff short of the estimated 1,145 it needed.

In the meantime, initial efforts to modernise the IT infrastructure ended in failure, with £2.5 million written off after the project ran almost 50% over budget.

The head of the NAO Gareth Davies said UKSV must now be put on a “sustainable path” to meet the increasing demand within Whitehall and beyond for vetting.

“Our investigation finds unacceptable delays continue to hamper security vetting, which is of vital importance to the effective functioning of government, and in particular, national security work,” he said.

“It is essential that the Cabinet Office set a clear pathway for meaningful reform, including recruiting and retaining talent to implement and manage sustainable improvements.”