Effective Pre-employment Personnel Screening
Government releases new Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)
The Cabinet Office has released their latest version of the HMG Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) version 2.1 – Oct 2009 in association with version 3.0 of the HMG Security Policy Framework. The BPSS is a set of guidelines for the effective pre-employment screening of personnel. The following changes are worthy of note:
- Version 2.1 of the BPSS makes explicit reference to Mandatory Requirement 23 of the HMG Security Policy Framework – “Departments and Agencies must apply the requirements of BPSS to all HMG staff (including armed forces), contractors and temporary staff”.
- Removal of reference document ‘Identity Fraud – The UK Manual’
- As a pre employment screening process the BPSS is not expected to be applied retrospectively where suitable assurances are in place.
The BPSS is being used as a screening template by many organisations including Government departments, suppliers and agencies. It is a useful resource for all organisations seeking to develop a robust pre-employment screening process and uses as it’s basis the RICE principle, an acronym developed by Agenda Security Services to aid the recollection of the basic requirements:
R = Right to Work and Immigration Status Check I = Identification Check C = Criminal Record Check E = Employment Check (3 Years)
This basic RICE principle is then added to for specific roles, for example, a credit check for those handling money or a driver’s licence check for chauffeurs etc. A full version of the BPSS can be downloaded below:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/45160/hmg_bpss.pdf
Agenda has developed a series of cost effective checks to ensure that the requirements of the Baseline screening are applied, if you would like any further information please take a look at our Screening Options or e-mail: info@agenda-security.co.uk
