Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether national security related vetting procedures are applied equally to permanent recruitment exercises and to government internship programmes in all departments and agencies, including summer intelligence internships.

Levels of National Security Vetting required are not primarily based on length of employment, or whether an individual is employed on a permanent or temporary basis.

The level of vetting required for a role is instead based on a range of factors, including: access to classified material, buildings and other assets; proximity to public figures assessed to be at particular risk from terrorist attack; and access to information or material assessed to be of value to terrorists or hostile states.