Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, for individuals beginning work at airports and requiring airside clearance, what is the average time between the point the individual is offered the job to the point where such clearance is granted.

I should advise that National Security Vetting (NSV) undertaken by Her Majesty’s Government, remains separate from concurrent industry background checks. Background checks as conducted by industry can take between 12 and 14 weeks to complete. The Department for Transport (DfT) has implemented changes to help reduce these industry timescales utilising HMRC data to support reference checks.

The Cabinet Office acts as a service provider for NSV clearances only. For national security reasons I am unable to share processing times for security clearances. However, I can advise that United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) expedite all NSV cases for the aviation industry, in response to operational challenges currently impacting the aviation sector. Security checks for the aviation sector are being processed in a timely manner with no current delays.

In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.