Transcript Nick Nicklin, 14th Jan 2014

Force Vetting Unit
Mr Nick Nicklin
Force Vetting Coordinator
Purpose of the Vetting Office
• To ensure all persons having access to Police Sites and
Information are vetted in order to protect our assets
• They include Police Officers, Police Staff, PCSO’s,
Special Constables, Contractors, Agency Workers,
Partnerships, SW1
• Our aim is to eliminate security risks to the organisation
and give the public confidence in our dealing with them
Different Vetting Levels
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The DBS Barring (CRB)
– This is controlled and certificates issued by DBS Liverpool
•
Police Vetting
– Police Officer and Police Staff
Recruitment Vetting (RV) & Management Vetting (MV)
– Non Police Personnel Vetting (NPPV)
Level 1, 2 and 3
•
National Security Vetting
– Counter Terrorist Check (CTC)
– Security Check (SC)
– Developed Vetting (DV)
The vetting level depends on the role undertaken not the position or rank the
individual has within the organisation.
Vetting Processes Summary
Elements:
• Receiving of the Application
• Checking for Accuracy
• Entered in Database
• Allocation to Researcher
• Research of the Application with Databases
• Recommendations and Decisions
• Refusals and Reviews
• Review Process
Authentication
• Authentication, whilst not a formal security clearance,
underpins all levels of Police Vetting and National
Security Vetting and is carried out by the company
• Authentication is used to confirm an individual’s
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Identity
Nationality
Employment eligibility
Residency qualification
Research of the application for
Police Vetting
• All named people on the application form
Address Check
Avon & Somerset area intelligence
Police National Computer
Police National Database (Intelligence from all Forces)
• On the applicant (only)
Experian Credit Check
Recommendations and
Decisions
• National Vetting Policy for the Police Community 2012
(This will change during 2014 to the Codes of Practice to cover the
Governments Integrity Programme)
• Force Policy
Refusals and Reviews
• The decision to grant or refuse a vetting clearance is
made against a number of criteria which is specified in
the National Vetting Policy 2012
• The policy takes into account convictions, cautions, and
fixed penalty notices. Convictions are never SPENT for
police vetting purposes
• There is an expectation that applicants will answer the
questions honestly, as integrity is also important
Appeal & Review Process
• Under the National Vetting Policy there is no formal
‘Appeal or Review’ process for people who do not work
for the Police
• In this Force as best practice if any vetting clearance is
refused, we allow the applicant to have the decision
reviewed within 14 days
• The applicant will be informed of the reason for the
refusal, but the Constabulary reserve the right not to
inform the applicant of the reason for the refusal, where it
could compromise the security of the information or
breach legislation
Work load and commitments
• Approximately 300/350 applications per month, processed
by 4 members of vetting staff
• There is a 14 day national agreement to complete vetting
checks for other Forces
• No in Force service level agreement at present but every
effort made to complete checks and give a decision within
21 working days, subject to no ‘out of force’ enquiries
DBS Barring
• The DBS Barring are responsible for making
barring decisions
These decisions are based on information they
hold as well as information held by the police
DBS - Referrals
• Referrals are made to the DBS when an
employer or organisation has concerns that a
person has caused harm, or poses a future risk of
harm to vulnerable groups, including children
DBS – PNC (Police National Computer)
• On the 29 May 2013 legislation came into force
that allows certain old and minor cautions and
convictions to no longer be subject to disclosure
on a DBS certificate.
DBS – Filtering of Convictions
• PNC records which contain more than one
conviction will not be eligible to be filtered and all
the convictions will be disclosed.
• PNC records which have one conviction but
contain multiple offences will not be eligible to be
filtered and the conviction will be disclosed.
DBS – Filtering of Cautions
• Filtering of cautions, warnings and reprimand is
slightly different from convictions in that it applies
to individual offences rather than an overall
conviction.
Useful Links
• DBS
• https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/dis
closure-and-barring-service
• PNC Filtering
• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbsfiltering-guidance
Force Vetting Unit
Any Questions
Nick Nicklin Force Vetting Coordinator
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Phone: 01275 814665
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Email: [email protected]
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Mail: Police Headquarters, PO Box 37, Valley Road, Portishead, Bristol BS20 8QJ