§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what are the mechanisms for authorising the vetting of an individual by MI5; [15713]
(2) how many persons were vetted by MI5 in the last year for which figures are available; [15714]
(3) if material collected by MI5 as part of vetting operations is always destroyed where those vetted are deemed not to be a security risk. [15715]
§ Mr. StrawSecurity vetting is carried out in accordance with the policy set out by the then Prime Minister in reply to a Question from Sir Anthony Durant (then the Member for Reading, West) on 15 December 1994,Official Report, columns 764–66. It is for Departments to assess which posts, by virtue of their assess to sensitive Government assets, should be subject to security vetting. Before any vetting is carried out, the individual is informed of the processes involved and gives his or her consent to the relevant checks being made.
As the policy makes clear, a check against Security Service records is a standard element of the vetting process. Apart from the checks made on individuals at the request of Departments, the Security Service is responsible only for the vetting of its own staff and contractors. Information obtained during the vetting process is retained for management purposes and to facilitate periodic vetting reviews.
41WIt is not the Government's policy to provide details of the work of the Security Service, including the numbers of persons subject to vetting checks.