§ Mr. Dodsworthasked the Minister for the Civil Service what security checks are carried out on civil servants dealing with questions of nuclear energy before they are employed and from day to day
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisQuestions of nuclear energy may be dealt with by a number of Government Departments. The rules governing the classification and protection of official information about nuclear energy are the same as those which apply to official information generally; where necessary the same personnel security checks are made on staff handling such information. An outline of security vetting arrangements which apply to applicants for certain Civil Service posts is given in the leaflet "General Information for Candidates" issued by the Civil Service Commission, and I am sending the hon. Member a copy. This explains that in order to ensure the reliability of persons to be employed in exceptionally secret work, Departments make special inquiries known as positive vetting. These entail completion by the persons of a security questionnaire, and certain background inquiries by special investigating officers. These inquiries are concerned not only with political sympathies or associations of the kind mentioned above but also with revealing any characteristics which might be a potential risk to security. Similar arrangements apply to civil servants who move during their careers to posts involving exceptionally secret work. The security clearances of all staff engaged in such work are reviewed regularly.