UK Security Vetting Failure
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Ripon
Age: 64
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I left the RAF last year and for the last 20 years of my time I was DV cleared. I obtained a job with a civilian company which had contracts with various Government agencies for which I needed my DV to be resurrected as well as some other checks which one of the agencies required. After 6 months of waiting for the clearances to come through I had to get a job elsewhere due to financial pressures, so my original job had to be knocked on the head. Had the clearances come through in a reasonable time then I wouldn't be in my current job. I have a lot of sympathy with the original civilian company as they couldn't get me started until the clearances and other checks came through, so they are back at stage one and have to recruit somebody else and again wait for the clearance process to give them the green light
Someone mentioned Data Protection. We have an MOD employee who has worked for us for a number of years but at a basic clearance level. He applied to transfer to a post requiring the higher clearance and put in his application for further clearance. He got his DV after the usual 6 months, and we put his application forward to the SIS. After more than 6 months, word came through that his enhanced clearance had been denied. They wouldn't give a reason for refusal, not that they'd talk to me anyway, but they would not tell the lad either. The lad is beside himself. From the employee perspective, it would be nice for him to know what the issue is and whether it's worth an appeal. From a business perspective, it would be good to determine at what point we abandon (I use the verb loosely!) this particular employee and try to engage someone else in his place. Not good.
and word gets out ...people will avoid anywhere that needs a higher level of clearance
Who will want to wait 12 months and then get told goodbye ?
Who will want to wait 12 months and then get told goodbye ?
Several younger relatives in the public sector are 'working' from home. Long before the pandemic one told me that his department's work could be completed by morning teabreak if everyone buckled down. He was promoted but turned it down after a month in which sheer frustration began to affect his health, being lumbered with one person in particular who would not take instruction (Why are you always picking on me?) and who duly caused a monster cockup which will cost at least £25,000 in compensation. My relative has become a 'quiet quitter', doing his job as far as he can, sympathising with his manager and taking the money at the end of each month.
Another relative managed a department which kept important records and included a person with dyslexia. Fair enough except for the serious mis-filing which was still causing confusion five years later. HR told him that he had to make allowances. Now he has to cope with WFH and the latest gender minefield. Forgive me if I have grave doubts about the competence of any public sector, let alone security of the realm.
Another relative managed a department which kept important records and included a person with dyslexia. Fair enough except for the serious mis-filing which was still causing confusion five years later. HR told him that he had to make allowances. Now he has to cope with WFH and the latest gender minefield. Forgive me if I have grave doubts about the competence of any public sector, let alone security of the realm.
" Forgive me if I have grave doubts about the competence of any public sector,"
just as bad in the private sector but they're better at burying the bodies
just as bad in the private sector but they're better at burying the bodies
The following users liked this post:
How many MPs , recent PMs and Minsiters would actually get through these processes are they vetted at all. I went through the DV process in a previous job and it was pretty thorough although it only tooka few weeks -around 2000.
Also as has been pointed out concerns about potential technology interception by people from the east might increase the need , also ensuring confidentiality by people doing the same things in UK already.
Seriously though would Johnson have passed if he wasnt PM ??? how many children do you have -- err umm err.
In a vaguely simialr vein a lot of media comment about Govt esp MOD deny access or involvement in public events because of their views on issues not remotely connected to the activity itself, Thats real Stasi stuff
Also as has been pointed out concerns about potential technology interception by people from the east might increase the need , also ensuring confidentiality by people doing the same things in UK already.
Seriously though would Johnson have passed if he wasnt PM ??? how many children do you have -- err umm err.
In a vaguely simialr vein a lot of media comment about Govt esp MOD deny access or involvement in public events because of their views on issues not remotely connected to the activity itself, Thats real Stasi stuff
My understanding is that they are not vetted itneh same way but the Organs of the State look pretty carefully at those who may be dealing with truly sensitive info. I seem to remember a couple of PM's have been notified by the Cabinet Secretary that "A" or "B" was a potential risk and the relevant folk were given different jobs.
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: On my favourite chair
Age: 55
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes
on
3 Posts
How many MPs , recent PMs and Minsiters would actually get through these processes are they vetted at all. I went through the DV process in a previous job and it was pretty thorough although it only tooka few weeks -around 2000.
Also as has been pointed out concerns about potential technology interception by people from the east might increase the need , also ensuring confidentiality by people doing the same things in UK already.
Seriously though would Johnson have passed if he wasnt PM ??? how many children do you have -- err umm err.
In a vaguely simialr vein a lot of media comment about Govt esp MOD deny access or involvement in public events because of their views on issues not remotely connected to the activity itself, Thats real Stasi stuff
Also as has been pointed out concerns about potential technology interception by people from the east might increase the need , also ensuring confidentiality by people doing the same things in UK already.
Seriously though would Johnson have passed if he wasnt PM ??? how many children do you have -- err umm err.
In a vaguely simialr vein a lot of media comment about Govt esp MOD deny access or involvement in public events because of their views on issues not remotely connected to the activity itself, Thats real Stasi stuff
Last edited by High Average; 25th May 2023 at 11:13.
A few years ago I was doing a job concerning access to UK and US Intelligence Agencies capabilities and intercepts. A group of MPs and Lords came to my unit as part of their role on the committee that regulates what the UK can and cannot intercept, particularly in the UK. I spoke to the Cabinet Office ref their clearances, and was told that most of them are not vetted in any way. They were to be given access access to the capabilities purely because of their positions on the committee. They were considered to be decent chaps by the PM and his staff and wouldn't have been appointed onto the committee if they considered them a security risk!
I must admit I could never really get my head round the many contradictions. I needed access to S stuff for decades, and sailed through whatever vetting they did. But I was never allowed to manage anything where a contractor was in Northern Ireland. Within hours of being appointed to a post in 1987, I was removed as SY had a fit, and my cards were marked forever more. I was told it was because of where I was born, but that never made sense as others in my position were ok. Three years ago I discovered my grandfather had been a gunrunner there before the Great War. I now wonder....!
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Mostly in my own imagination
Posts: 477
Received 334 Likes
on
154 Posts
I thought it all depended on which school you went to
