Performance of the UK Security Vetting service

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 19 Jan 2023 Closed: 21 Jul 2023 Parliament page
UK Security Vetting (UKSV) was established in January 2017 and since April 2020 has been part of the Cabinet Office’s Government Security Group. Prior to its move to the Cabinet Office it was part of the Ministry of Defence and UKSV is still managing legacy elements of the transition. Following … Read more
3 Recommendations
21 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Letter
Activity timeline 3 events
21 Jul
2023
Report published
12 May
2023
Report published
14 Mar
2023
Correspondence
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fifty-Third Report - The performance of UK Security Vetting HC 994 12 May 2023 24 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
3 results
Clear
20 Conclusion Deferred
Fifty-Third Report - The performan…
UKSV's £40 million transformation programme business cases have faced repeated rejection by COAB.
UKSV has been trying, largely unsuccessfully, to modernise the vetting system since it launched a Vetting Reform programme in 2019.50 UKSV’s Chief Executive said, “if we had a magic wand and we could build a new system tomorrow, we absolutely … Read more
Government Response
The Cabinet Office has contracted external support for a 10-week enhanced discovery to review delivery models for Vetting Transformation, with outputs forming an Outline Business Case for consideration in October 2023.
HM Treasury
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22 Conclusion Deferred
Fifty-Third Report - The performan…
Previous IT modernisation efforts led to significant budget overruns and project failures for UKSV.
As part of the Vetting Reform programme, the Cabinet Office planned to replace UKSV’s legacy IT system, the National Security Vetting System, through the Future Vetting System programme, by February 2020 at a cost of £19 million. Failures in project … Read more
Government Response
The Cabinet Office has commissioned a 10-week enhanced discovery phase with external support to review delivery models for Vetting Transformation, which will inform an Outline Business Case to be considered in October 2023.
HM Treasury
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23 Conclusion Deferred
Fifty-Third Report - The performan…
Cabinet Office's cautious approach delays Vetting Transformation programme following past IT modernisation failures.
The Cabinet Office told us that following its bad experience with its first attempt to modernise IT, it was now adopting a more cautious approach to transformation, and that it rejected the business plan for the Vetting Transformation programme on … Read more
Government Response
The Cabinet Office has contracted external support for a 10-week discovery phase to review and advise on Vetting Transformation delivery models, with outputs forming an Outline Business Case for consideration in October 2023.
HM Treasury
View details
Government Response AI assessment · 22 of 3 classified
Accepted 19
Deferred 3
Total 3 recs + 21 conclusions
Correspondence 1 letter
14 Mar 2023 Correspondence from Vincent Devine, Director General & Government Chief Security Officer Government Security Function, Cabinet Office, re Performance of the UK Security Vetting (UKSV) Service Inquiry: Additional Responses, 3 March 2023
Parliament page