Basic Security Clearence

[malvolio]

I cheat - I knew what I was looking for and that it exists. Typical HMG website that assumes everyone else also knows and therefore doesn't bother with a redirect to somewhere useful - like the MOD's list of agencies...

[SSC M]

thanks anyway it was usefull

M

[Miss Ellie]

I had to give personal referees.

They were just friends who had known me for ages. I basically chose 2 people who have respectable and boring jobs where if they had any form of criminal conviction they couldn't work in their chosen career. (And they were completely traceable as well.) All they had to do is fill in a form and post it. Chose people who you know will fill in forms quickly and will send them in. Remember to check if they have done so as I had to nag one of my referees to put it in the post.

[The Lone Gunman]

I had to give personal referees.

They were just friends who had known me for ages. I basically chose 2 people who have respectable and boring jobs where if they had any form of criminal conviction they couldn't work in their chosen career. (And they were completely traceable as well.) All they had to do is fill in a form and post it. Chose people who you know will fill in forms quickly and will send them in. Remember to check if they have done so as I had to nag one of my referees to put it in the post.

One of my personal refs is DV cleared herself and sometimes works at 10 Downing Street.

[Asterix]

The bitch

Cherie ?

[churkus]

just ouf of interest in a criminal record check do you have to declare cautions ?

[lORD lUCAN]

Glad this came up, I've just agreed to some short term consultancy work for the Police, nothing major, just a short stint, but am going through the Security Clearance checks, which tbh, I'm more than happy about, license to print money in my opinion. I think we'll be seeing a huge number of government vacancies on controlled sites over the next few years. Anyone else know if Police checks would cover MOD sites too?

[malvolio]

No. Police checks don't even cover different constabularies, it seems - friend of mine lost a gig becuase his local force's clearance wasn't good enough for his potential client.

Each of the major ministries (Home, Foreign, DTI and MOD) have their own systems, although they work to the same rules. It is not certain that having MOD clearance won't mean you'll need re-clearance for a DTI role (although obviously it helps!).
As for "I think we'll be seeing a huge number of government vacancies on controlled sites over the next few years" - Let's put it this way: about 10% of the contractor workforce has clearance and therefore are at the head of the queue for any such work, so why would they want to open it up to the rest?

[The Lone Gunman]

just ouf of interest in a criminal record check do you have to declare cautions ?

It tells you on the form. You can ignore parking fines and similar. Not sure about cautions but I would imagine the answer would be yes.
The form has a detatchable section to put yor criminal record on which you are supposed to remove and seal in an envelope. The only person who will see this is the security officer dealing with your case.

It is best to put down everything. If you are not sure then admit it. They will find out and if you lied you are in trouble.

[lORD lUCAN]

No. Police checks don't even cover different constabularies, it seems - friend of mine lost a gig becuase his local force's clearance wasn't good enough for his potential client.

Each of the major ministries (Home, Foreign, DTI and MOD) have their own systems, although they work to the same rules. It is not certain that having MOD clearance won't mean you'll need re-clearance for a DTI role (although obviously it helps!).
As for "I think we'll be seeing a huge number of government vacancies on controlled sites over the next few years" - Let's put it this way: about 10% of the contractor workforce has clearance and therefore are at the head of the queue for any such work, so why would they want to open it up to the rest?

Only reason I could see would be sheer weight of numbers although, tbh I do agree with you, in the sense that the 10% would get the first batch of work. And probably leave nothing for anyone else!

Another thing to bring into the equation would be any NHS work, especially if the standardisation rollout is still in the pipeline. Having spoken to an agent not so long ago, he had been asking if I'd had any SC clearance in view of future work. This must all help though. GSK , Investments and Corporate clients have all cleared me when working on their sites. We'll see what happens, but at least its a start. From what i hear sometimes you cannot get clearance for love or money, so at least its a step in the right direction.