Northumbria Police: Hundreds of police and staff not vetted properly

Northumbria Police said it was committed to ensuring it has robust vetting procedures in place

Hundreds of police officers and staff were not properly background checked by Northumbria Police, a report has found.

An inspection highlighted concerns over the vetting of personnel, which included 340 staff carrying out roles without the correct clearance.

Highlighting issues around vetting staff workload, it also found those who no longer had clearance may still have had access to buildings and IT systems.

The force said work was under way to "address" the concerns raised.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue (HMICFRS) reviewed the force's vetting procedures in May.

The review included how it carried out background checks on new workers and its more than 6,000 police officers, special constables, police staff and PCSOs.

Inspectors found staff working in the department responsible for checks, the force vetting unit (FVU), could not keep up with the number of applications needing to be processed.

Staff were prioritising the recruitment of new people to the force which lead to lengthy delays of checks on non-police personnel, such as contractors and volunteers.

The inspection into the force's vetting procedures was carried in May

"Force vetting unit staff told us that 165 new non-police personnel vetting applications and 72 renewals had been delayed, some by over six months," the report said.

Meanwhile, HMICFRS found 27 workers had been moved into roles which had access to more sensitive information without the required enhanced checks.

Such roles can also involve working with vulnerable people, according to the report, which urged the force to ensure they were "vetted to the correct level as soon as possible".

However, the report raised further concerns in this area.

It said the force had recently updated a list of job roles which required enhanced vetting due to the work involved, but that it had found "340 people occupying these posts" were without the appropriate "management vetting clearance".

Inspectors also found there was not a "consistent" procedure to stop access to IT systems, or to buildings, when an individual's clearance had ended.

Correct decisions made

But inspectors, who deemed Northumbria's overall vetting procedures were "adequate", acknowledged the force had made improvements and that the majority of the workforce were aware of vetting rules.

These included the need to tell the force of changes of circumstances, which the College of Policing says includes whether there is misconduct, changes to marital status, name changes or significant changes to personal finances, which could otherwise affect their existing vetting status.

Meanwhile, inspectors reviewed 40 decisions on applications from the past three years, and said it had "agreed with almost all of the force's vetting clearance decisions".

Concluding, HMICFRS said the force should improve its vetting arrangements so that:

• All personnel are vetted to a "high enough level" for the positions they hold

• All non-police personnel, including contractors and volunteers, are vetted to the "required level" for the job they are doing

• The force's vetting unit has "sufficient resources" to "meet the demand it faces".

In response, Northumbria Police said it "recognised the importance" of strong vetting procedures and had already made "significant investment" in the area.

A spokesperson said: "We are pleased that His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services recognised that we are vetting people effectively.

"Where a small number of areas for improvement were identified, work is already under way to address these.

"We are committed to ensuring we continue to have robust vetting procedures in place to help build trust and confidence in the service we are providing."