A simple yet complicated tale.
Had SC clearance, active, needed renewing under 5 year deal in Feb 2017.
Worked through big ( and incompetent ) consultancy call it A, which ended Oct 2014.
Months later worked through a small consultancy to provide services at defence company B. Role was BPSS but if you had SC they would put in the transfer request to keep it active as long as you filled in the request form - which I did and had evidence of.
Company B forgot to put the transfer request in, instead putting me through BPSS. Meaning SC has now lapsed under the 1 year deal. Company B initially offered to sponsor a new application to correct their mistake - which they are now reneging on, citing the expiry date of Feb 2017.
How was this whole situation uncovered?
Contract was upcoming at public sector client C who are firm in wanting active SC holders only... yes, I know what people will say but that's the reality of things. Client C are people I've worked at before, I know the politics, the lay of the land and the fact they find it difficult to get people in. In short, good chance of getting a very good, lengthy contract.
They wanted to know who held confirmation of my clearance. I found out it was Consultancy A - obvious had left them 2 years before so I queried it up and handled the situation honestly. The project managers had failed to inform their security team I'd left so they still thought I worked there! I informed them when I'd left, so that then inactivated the clearance due to Company B having screwed up...
So application for client C has now gone. Company B claiming their mistake hasn't had a detrimental effect on my ability to get other, as they term it "employment". After all, losing someone's clearance doesn't limit the future opportunities whatsoever... I was raised with the ethos that if you make a mistake, you correct it.
The TL;DR version.
NEVER assume a company have correctly transferred SC. Always ask for some evidence the transfer request has gone in / check with the relevant vetting agency.
Had SC clearance, active, needed renewing under 5 year deal in Feb 2017.
Worked through big ( and incompetent ) consultancy call it A, which ended Oct 2014.
Months later worked through a small consultancy to provide services at defence company B. Role was BPSS but if you had SC they would put in the transfer request to keep it active as long as you filled in the request form - which I did and had evidence of.
Company B forgot to put the transfer request in, instead putting me through BPSS. Meaning SC has now lapsed under the 1 year deal. Company B initially offered to sponsor a new application to correct their mistake - which they are now reneging on, citing the expiry date of Feb 2017.
How was this whole situation uncovered?
Contract was upcoming at public sector client C who are firm in wanting active SC holders only... yes, I know what people will say but that's the reality of things. Client C are people I've worked at before, I know the politics, the lay of the land and the fact they find it difficult to get people in. In short, good chance of getting a very good, lengthy contract.
They wanted to know who held confirmation of my clearance. I found out it was Consultancy A - obvious had left them 2 years before so I queried it up and handled the situation honestly. The project managers had failed to inform their security team I'd left so they still thought I worked there! I informed them when I'd left, so that then inactivated the clearance due to Company B having screwed up...
So application for client C has now gone. Company B claiming their mistake hasn't had a detrimental effect on my ability to get other, as they term it "employment". After all, losing someone's clearance doesn't limit the future opportunities whatsoever... I was raised with the ethos that if you make a mistake, you correct it.
The TL;DR version.
NEVER assume a company have correctly transferred SC. Always ask for some evidence the transfer request has gone in / check with the relevant vetting agency.
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