Reply to: Contract signed, waiting for SC clearance. Search to continue..?

[malvolio]

That's interesting. I'm not sure that the 'minimum' cost is useful though.
If it's that cheap then why don't the companies get all their staff cleared?
I have no evidence to suggest that it was £8k when I did it, but that's a figure I was told by one the budget people.

The figure they have for DV also seems far too low. I was a referee for a chap who got DV. I was personally interviewed for 2 hours, face to face, by a lady from the vetting agency. And they do that with current and previous managers. So quite how that can all be done for under £1k is beyond me.

As I say I have no evidence to the contrary but my BS detector is going off.

Last time I looked, SC was a few hundreds, DV close to £10k depending on the candidate. Clearance processing costs are paid by central government funding though, so are irrelevant. Administrative costs for suppliers and non-central bodies are quoted for in the original tendering process so are also cost neutral.

Also, as a matter of interest, most delays in the vetting process are caused by people outside the vetting agency not doing their bit in a timely manner. For instance mine for the last but one gig took nearly four weeks to cross the local SSO's desk

[DanielSQL]

I waited 7 months for a 6 week security clearance to clear.

In that time I took on two other contracts and took a trip to Australia. There was no way I was going to sit around waiting for the client to get their act together. I made it clear - to the agent. That if something else came up I would take.

Your friend needs to decide whether the wait is worth it!

[Lance]

Not sure it cost 8k for SC clearance, sounds a bit much for filling in an online form and some basic background checks:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/vetting_costs

That's interesting. I'm not sure that the 'minimum' cost is useful though.
If it's that cheap then why don't the companies get all their staff cleared?
I have no evidence to suggest that it was £8k when I did it, but that's a figure I was told by one the budget people.

The figure they have for DV also seems far too low. I was a referee for a chap who got DV. I was personally interviewed for 2 hours, face to face, by a lady from the vetting agency. And they do that with current and previous managers. So quite how that can all be done for under £1k is beyond me.

As I say I have no evidence to the contrary but my BS detector is going off.

[Darren_Test]

The minimum cost for an SC is £49

the other £7951 is the cost of paying Lance 30% of his rate to keep him off the market

Very useful information . thanks.

[pr1]

no idea. What does the contract say? Or is it just a start date in the future?
Has the SC clearance process started? It costs the end client c. £8k (it did in 2012) for clearance, hence why most clients tend to start the contracts anyway as they'd be peeved if they lost the contractor. If it was offered to me I'd want a retainer of around 30% my day rate to keep me off the market, but would then still be looking as "who knows".

Not sure it cost 8k for SC clearance, sounds a bit much for filling in an online form and some basic background checks:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/vetting_costs

The minimum cost for an SC is £49

the other £7951 is the cost of paying Lance 30% of his rate to keep him off the market

[jsnetman]

no idea. What does the contract say? Or is it just a start date in the future?
Has the SC clearance process started? It costs the end client c. £8k (it did in 2012) for clearance, hence why most clients tend to start the contracts anyway as they'd be peeved if they lost the contractor. If it was offered to me I'd want a retainer of around 30% my day rate to keep me off the market, but would then still be looking as "who knows".

Not sure it cost 8k for SC clearance, sounds a bit much for filling in an online form and some basic background checks:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/vetting_costs

[Lance]

Crikey

All he has to do is ask the Agent whether can attend site and work, given that he will have completed his BPSS in order to progress the SC application?

Normally (well, it has been for me, for the past xx years), the BPSS has been sufficient to enable me to start the contract and conduct the assignment work, with certain restricted access, until SC has been finalised.

And it takes a week or so to sort logins, emails, meet people you need to know, gather requirements, pick holes in the last contractors tulip work, check you can access CUK via the proxy.

Something just doesn't stack up on this one, but the OP isn't sharing everything.

[AussieDigger]

no idea. What does the contract say? Or is it just a start date in the future?
Has the SC clearance process started? It costs the end client c. £8k (it did in 2012) for clearance, hence why most clients tend to start the contracts anyway as they'd be peeved if they lost the contractor. If it was offered to me I'd want a retainer of around 30% my day rate to keep me off the market, but would then still be looking as "who knows".

Just don't do what some agencies do - start the contract pending clearance and checks and then bail on you when they don't find what they wanted (because they couldn't be bothered chasing down the agency refs and other materials they had to chase down to complete things).

[northernladyuk]

Doesn't that depend on the contractor?

This is getting more complex the deeper we go into it.

Mods, is it time for a new sub-forum?

[SueEllen]

Is it typically BPSS or SC that grants access to the contractor car parking facilities?

Doesn't that depend on the contractor?

[northernladyuk]

Crikey

All he has to do is ask the Agent whether can attend site and work, given that he will have completed his BPSS in order to progress the SC application?

Normally (well, it has been for me, for the past xx years), the BPSS has been sufficient to enable me to start the contract and conduct the assignment work, with certain restricted access, until SC has been finalised.

Is it typically BPSS or SC that grants access to the contractor car parking facilities?

[Scruff]

Crikey

All he has to do is ask the Agent whether can attend site and work, given that he will have completed his BPSS in order to progress the SC application?

Normally (well, it has been for me, for the past xx years), the BPSS has been sufficient to enable me to start the contract and conduct the assignment work, with certain restricted access, until SC has been finalised.

[northernladyuk]

If parking on site was that complex for him I doubt he's even touched IR35.

But it's not even on site. It's highly complex, even for a manager of testers.

[northernladyuk]

if it's a Vodafone owned social club, then surely parking there is an IR35 indicator?

Not if contractors have to pay, whereas staff can park for free.

[northernladuk]

if it's a Vodafone owned social club, then surely parking there is an IR35 indicator?

If parking on site was that complex for him I doubt he's even touched IR35.