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Written question asked by Rupa Huq (Labour) on Monday, 22 July 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 24 July 2019. It was answered by Oliver Dowden (Conservative) on Thursday, 25 July 2019 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Vetting: ADHD

Question

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many individuals with ADHD have been given security clearance and then had that clearance withdrawn in each of the last five years.

Answer

The Civil Service do not gather information on individual medical conditions.

United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV), the UK’s centralised vetting provider, does not collate or report on specific medical conditions. This is due to vetting confidentiality. While medical conditions may be collected as part of vetting processes, these are recorded in narrative form. Reviewing the narrative data would require individual examination of many thousands of records. Similarly, it is not possible to collate data for withdrawals or suspensions citing medical factors, due to how this is recorded. Regardless, individuals are not denied clearance, or have clearances revoked, solely on the basis of possessing a particular medical condition. Rather, Vetting Officers, Medical Advisers and other staff build a holistic understanding of each candidate to assess any vulnerabilities or risk factors and make a judgement accordingly.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
280432
Session
2017-19
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
ADHD National security Vetting
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk