Information about current vetting

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.21.021399

I note you seek access to the following information:

The following questions refer to requirements (and include terminology) set out and defined in the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice guidance document on Vetting.

1. Have all officers and staff who joined prior to the adoption of the national vetting policy in 2006 now been retrospectively vetted?
a. If the answer is no, please state the number who have not been retrospectively vetted.

2. How many officers and staff have not been re-vetted at clearance level ‘Recruitment Vetting (RV)’ after ten years of service in each of the following years:

a. 2020
b. 2021 to date

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - Have all officers and staff who joined prior to the adoption of the national vetting policy in 2006 now been retrospectively vetted?

MPS Answer: Yes

Q2 - How many officers and staff have not been re-vetted at clearance level ‘Recruitment Vetting (RV)’ [the initial vetting process for police officers, police staff and members of the Special Constabulary, see attached doc for more detail 6.11] after ten years of service in each of the following years:

a. 2020

MPS Answer: 307

b. 2021 to date

MPS Answer: 727

Section 16 – Advice and Assistance
The answers provided at ‘Question Two’ include officers and staff whose vetting expired between January and December of 2020, or between January and 14 December 2021, whose vetting remains outstanding as at 14 December 2021.
These numbers include officers and staff who are on maternity leave, long term sick leave and career breaks and are therefore not in a position to return vetting forms.

When these individuals return from their respective periods of leave, they are then required to complete the vetting renewal process.
They also include officers and staff who have submitted re-vetting forms which are currently being processed by the Vetting Unit.

Finally, it includes a small number of officers and staff who have not yet submitted re-vetting forms and therefore their access to MPS Buildings and ICT systems has been revoked. A process is in place for line managers to deal with this small group.

The numbers in each of the above groups is outlined below for each of the periods:

Vetting Status	2020	2021
Maternity Leave / Long Term Sick Leave / Career Break	213	120
Re-vetting in progress (forms have been submitted)	91	571
Re-vetting outstanding (forms not submitted)	3	36
Total	307	727

Due to the dataset changing on a daily basis, in order to provide a full response, data has been provided as at 14 December 2021.