Clearance & Vetting
This page contains information regarding the Clearance and vetting of staff, all information has been derived from Open Source and the extracts are uncontrolled, the information is provided for reference by Computer Network Defence Ltd staff and details/enquires should always be verified with your Vetting Agency. If you have UNCLASSIFIED information which may enhance this page please pass it over
www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/WhatWeDo/SecurityandIntelligence/DVA/
Most of the information below was taken from the DVA website. However, there are a number of other Agencies also carrying out thier own Security Clearances and there appears to be a league table, where one Agency won't accept the Security Clearance granted by another Agency without further checks, this results in delays, even if the candidate appears to have the necessary DV etc
The UK Defence DVA states that you do not require Security Clearance in order to bid for MOD work as it may give cleared individuals a competitive advantage. The practise of requesting Clearance by agencies is discouraged. However, it has been Computer Network Defence's experience that the urgency of many requirements makes the presence of existing clearance inevitable.
The same therefore applies to the inclusion of the level of Clearance on your CV, whilst it is not recommended by the Authority, there are so many candidates doing it, that to not do so would preclude you from too much work. In our opinion, there are 2 categories to this, those looking for permanent work and those looking for contract roles. We often see permanent staff taken on for SC roles without clearance, though not nearly as many for DV roles, this is probably due to the additional time taken and the risk of them not getting clearance. For contractors there are very few roles which will clear you to SC and even fewer to DV, therefore in order to compete most contractors include their clearance level on their CV, though some just type DV, without any context to what it means, this will be picked up by Agency keyword searches.
The most frequently asked question we get is "I've just left a security cleared job, what happens to my clearance" . The DVA advise that the clearance can be resurrected for 12 months after leaving a security cleared post, after which time it lapses and requires a full re-vetting. Our advice is to transfer it to a Security Controller on a List X site, then you know exactly where it is, they may also tell you when it is due to expire (as apposed to lapse). It will still lapse after 12 months, if you don't use it, transferring it between security controllers is easy when you do get a role. Please get in touch if you require advice or assistance.
Wikipedia describes a List X site as "...A List X site is a commercial site (i.e. non-Government) on UK soil that is approved to hold UK government protectively marked information marked as 'confidential' and above. It is applied to a site and not a company...." List X status cannot be publicly advertised, therefore we cannot recommend any companies which may assist you on this website.
To gain Security Clearance you need a sponsor. Individuals and companies cannot ask for a security clearance unless they are sponsored, and you will not be sponsored unless they are contracted to work on one or more specific classified projects. A recent petition was launched on the 10 Downing Street website to challenge this ruling, though as yet it still stands.
Security Clearance within the UK Government and Defence consists of 3 main levels, these are defined as follows:
