Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government takes to vet (a) applicants for and (b) holders of civil service posts in central government departments for extremist views.

All civil servants are subject to recruitment checks (including of unspent criminal records) and are subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Code. Civil servants in sensitive roles are also subject to national security vetting, which involves a wide range of checks including against Security Service and police records. Managers are expected to report concerns about staff, including for example, expressions of support for extremist views, actions or incidents. Further details of the vetting process are available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmg-personnel-security-controls.