NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
Application Form Guidance Notes / /POLICY FOREQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EMPLOYMENT
Nottinghamshire Police is committed to providing equality of opportunity in terms of employment.
This Policy Statement applies to all staff, regardless of race, sex, pregnancy and maternity, marital status, colour, nationality, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, age or disability.
In addition any member of staff who feels aggrieved for any other reason may use the Fairness at Work Policy to raise their concern.
In matters of employment equality of opportunity will extend to all issues affecting recruitment, training, transfer and promotion, including terms and conditions of service. Selection criteria, systems and procedures will be kept under review, to ensure that individuals are selected or promoted objectively on the basis of their skills and abilities, according to the requirements of the job.
Nottinghamshire Police is committed to this policy and to the development and of Positive Action initiatives to ensure that the policy is, and continues to be fully effective.
The main aim of Nottinghamshire Police is to provide a work environment where each individual is recognised, valued and accepted.
Every effort will be made to ensure that fair, non-discriminatory practices are applied to and by all staff in their dealings with each other.
All staff of Nottinghamshire Police must be aware of their obligations under anti-discrimination legislation and particularly the legal requirement that individuals shall not unlawfully discriminate or aid, instruct or induce others to do so. Eliminating discrimination and providing equality of opportunity depends upon personal commitment and all staff without exception, must observe anti-discrimination principles, related policies and notes of guidance. Training courses and other sources of information will be provided, where appropriate, to broaden and promote a greater understanding and awareness of these issues and personal responsibilities.
Nottinghamshire Police seeks to ensure that no member of staff is victimised or subjected to any form of harassment and that everyone feels secure and content in the work place, free from intimidation or discrimination. Individuals who believe that they have grounds for complaint in relation to discrimination, harassment or bullying should consider using the Fairness at work policy.
The implementation of this Equal Opportunities Policy will be closely monitored.
Nottinghamshire Police undertakes to inform all staff of this policy statement.
Any act of discrimination by a member of staff or any failure to comply with the terms of this policy may result in disciplinary investigation.
This policy is fully supported by Senior Management and the Staff Associations.
APPLICATION FORM GUIDANCE
Note 1: Personal details
Police staff applicants will undergo a thorough vetting process. Please list all surnames by which you have been known, including your name at birth. If you share your home/accommodation with another person (multiple occupancy) you will need to indicate this on your form.
Note 2: Nationality
If you are a Commonwealth citizen or a foreign national you must provide proof that you have no restrictions on your stay in the UK. You should therefore send a copy of your passport, which shows that your stay is free of restrictions. Do not send your actual passport with this application. Other documentary evidence of your status may be required.
In order to pass security vetting, you will be required to have resided in the United Kingdom for a period of three years immediately prior to your application.
Note 3: Convictions and cautions: you and your family
Convictions or cautions will not necessarily preclude you from appointment. It will depend on their nature and the circumstances of the offence. Failure to disclose convictions or cautions will, however, result in your application being terminated.
You must declare all convictions for any past offences, formal cautions by the police (including cautions as a juvenile (i.e. under-18)) and any bind-over imposed by any court. You must also include traffic convictions such as speeding, drink-drive offences, fixed penalties for motoring or disorder offences and any appearances before a court martial. This also includes any offence where restorative justice has been utilised.
You must declare any charge of summons currently outstanding against you.
You must include spent convictions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (by virtue of the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exemptions) Order 1975) or any involvement with civil, military or transport police.
You must declare if you have ever been involved in any criminal investigation whether or not this led to prosecution (either of yourself or others).
If you believe you have been involved in the kind of incident we need to know about, please let us know. Some applicants do not declare information, which they believe, is no longer held on record. However, our enquiries will highlight incidents that happened long ago and failure to disclose these may lead to your application being rejected. If you have any doubts, include the details and let us decide if they are relevant.
We want to know whether any of your close family or associates are involved in criminal activity. You will also need to disclose on your form information relating to deceased relatives. We will search for any criminal convictions or cautions recorded against your family. You must advise them that these enquiries will be made. The police service cannot disclose the results of these enquiries to you.
Note 4: Sickness and disability
As part of Nottinghamshire Police attendance management policy applicants will be required to complete a medical questionnaire and undergo a health check as part of the selection process undertaken by the organisation. Applicants will only be required to complete this once an initial offer of employment has been made by the organisation. Applicants may not be eligible to proceed to appointment if they have been absent from work, school, college or university through sickness over the previous three years for:
- An average of more than 10 working days per year or
- More than 10 separate periods during that three year period
Illness as a result of disability within the terms of the Equality Act 2010 will be counted separately.
NB:(1) The previous three years will be calculated from the initial offer of appointment for the post.
(2) Internal applicants must enclose Form G32A, completed by their Line Manager, on receipt of an initial offer letter.
Disability Symbol
We are committed to employing disabled people and will:
- Interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a job vacancy and consider them on their abilities.
- Ensure there is a mechanism in place to discuss, at any time, but at least once a year, with disabled employees what they can do to make sure they can develop and use their abilities.
- Make every effort when employees become disabled to make sure they stay in employment.
- Take action to ensure that all employees develop the appropriate level of disability awareness needed to make your commitments work.
- Each year, to review the five commitments and what has been achieved, to plan ways to improve on them and let employees and Jobcentre Plus know about progress and future plans.
Note 5: Financial information
Most applicants have debts, such as mortgages, undischarged student or other loans and credit/store card debts. Debts which are within your means and manageable are not a bar to appointment.
Applicants who have existing County Court Judgements outstanding against them or who have been registered bankrupt and their bankruptcy debts have not been discharged will not be considered.
Applicants who have discharged County Court Judgements may be considered.
Applicants who have been registered as bankrupt and their bankruptcy debts have been discharged will only be considered after three years from discharge of the debt.
Applicants that have accounts that are shown as being in default will not be considered.
Applicants that have accounts in arrears will be required to show that all account payments are up to date if successful at interview.
Note 6: Employment
You are asked to provide details of all employment history to date. If you have had any periods of unemployment or any gaps/breaks in employment please include this. Include full-time and part-time work and answer the questions in each of the columns.
Note 7: Education and skills
Please provide details of educational establishments attended (giving dates) which are relevant to the post. Please also include details of qualifications achieved. If you are still in, or have recently left, full-time education, we may also ask for a reference from the relevant school/college/university.
Note 8: Information in support of your application
Please provide evidence of skills, qualities and experience you have which meet the requirements of the post applied for.
It may not be necessary to include full details of your present/past experiences, only those elements that are relevant to the post. The more recent the examples you can give the better, but if you are not presently using the skills/qualities required then go back further into your employment history, training, leisure, interests, voluntary work or domestic background and highlight the relevant factors.
Applicants will be shortlisted solely on the information supplied in the application form measured against the person specification. If you need to attach additional sheets to cover the criteria in the person specification the information should be presented in a clear and concise manner. Please put your full name at the top of each continuation sheet. Sections which do not apply to you should clearly be marked N/A.
Note 9: Membership of BNP or similar
The police service has a policy of prohibiting any of their officers or staff from becoming members of the BNP, Combat 18 or similar organisations whose aims, objectives or pronouncements may contradict the duty to promote race equality.
If you are, or have been, a member of the BNP, Combat 18 or similar, your application will be rejected.
Further advice
Please examine the Job Description and Person Specification carefully to ensure you meet the essential criteria for this post. Please note that applicants who do not meet the essential (minimum) criteria will not be considered further.
To be considered you must return the completed application form and additional documents to the published Personnel department. This must arrive no later than the published closing time and date. If your application is received after this time and date it will not be considered.
Electronic or faxed copies of your completed application form and other associated documents will be accepted no later than the published closing time and date. This should be accompanied by a front cover marked for the attention of the published Personnel department. The original hard copy must follow immediately.
You may withdraw your application at any time. If you withdraw, please advise the relevant Personnel department as soon as possible in writing.
VETTING INFORMATION
Everyone who has unsupervised access to police premises, sensitive information or other sensitive assets has to undergo vetting. The responsibility on Nottinghamshire Police to undertake this activity was set out by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) National Vetting Policy for the Police Community in 2004. This was a result of a Home Office directive, which followed a speech by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons in 1994 at which time it was stated that vetting requirements for police forces should fall in line with other government departments and agencies who have access to sensitive or national security information.
In essence, vetting exists to protect premises, information and other assets for which the police service is responsible. Recent investigations have shown that individuals who have access to sensitive police information or assets are often targeted by criminals, terrorist organisations and professionals (eg. the media, loss adjusters and private detectives) who have something to gain from accessing police resources. Although quite rare, this kind of infiltration usually has serious consequences for police, the safety of individuals and/or national security and is potentially damaging to the reputation of the police service in general. The methods of manipulation and coercion employed by those with something to gain from accessing premises, information or other assets are always very persuasive, but made even more difficult to resist when the personal circumstances of those targeted make them particularly vulnerable to corruption.
Why involve third parties?
It is widely accepted that spouse/partners, immediate family members and those with whom a person shares a home can influence an individual whether intentionally or unintentionally, by applying pressure or creating circumstances that can lead to vulnerability to coercion or inducement. Thus, it is necessary to consider the stability, circumstances and background of individuals with whom the applicant has close relationships.
Vetting procedures cannot stop the attempts of external forces to infiltrate the police service for their own gain. Rather, vetting endeavours to stop such attempts being successful by eliminating the source internally. In basic terms this means ensuring that those who are particularly vulnerable do not have access to police premises, information or other assets that would be useful to those wishing to exploit them.
Who is defined as a relevant third party for vetting purposes?
There are four types of third parties:
- Spouses/partners (anyone who is or has been in a long term/committed relationship with the applicant within the last three years)
- Immediate family members (such as dependants, parents, siblings including step relatives)
- Co-habitees (anyone who shares a home with the applicant not already accounted for by the above)
- Associates (where the applicant knows or has reason to suspect that the individual concerned is/has been involved in crime)
What information is required about third parties?
We only require current address details, confirmation of nationality and date and place of birth in the majority of cases. The exception to this is the applicant who occupies a ‘designated post’ which attracts a higher level of vetting. Where this is the case, details of household finances, which include those of the spouse/partner, are required for consideration as part of the vetting process.
What happens to this information?
The third party information that the applicant provides is checked against relevant local and national records to ensure that no one “close” to the applicant poses a significant security risk.
Where information is discovered, this will not be revealed to the applicant even when this information is requested in support of an appeal without the express permission of the third party in question.
Once these checks have been completed a file is prepared containing the results for consideration by the Head of Vetting who decides whether or not clearance can be granted on the information available. These files including the third party information are then held for a set period of time dependent upon the vetting decision and specific subsequent events.
The timescales that apply are as follows:
- Six years after any vetting clearance is granted, refused or withdrawn
- Six years after the applicant leaves Nottinghamshire Police for police personnel
- One year after the applicant leaves Nottinghamshire Police or an organisation contracted to provide services to the force for non-police personnel
- One year after the applicant’s death
Will the confidentially of the information be maintained?
Appropriate steps have been taken to ensure that the confidentiality of all the information provided as part of the process, be that relating to the applicant or a third party, is maintained at all times.
The vetting unit is sited in a secure location with restricted access. No sensitive personal data is held on computer and all vetting documentation is stored in secure filing cabinets within the restricted access location. There are strict procedures in place to ensure that these storage facilities remain secure at all times.
All vetting staff have enhanced vetting clearance that is sufficient to provide assurance as to their honesty, integrity and reliability in relation to the premises, information and assets they have access to. We do, however, need to share some information with certain key partners in order for vetting checks to be conducted and we take all reasonable steps to seek appropriate assurances to ensure these key partners do not reveal or use, any of the information provided for any purpose other than conducting vetting checks.
As previously stated, information relating to third parties will not be provided to the applicant as a matter of course in the event of refusal of vetting clearance and any information gathered in relation to third parties that was not freely provided by them (i.e. information resulting from the vetting checks conducted) will never be revealed to the applicant, even when this information is requested in support of an appeal without the express permission of the third party in question.
What if consent is not given?
Under the national and Nottinghamshire Police Vetting Policy, the applicant is not required to obtain consent from third parties in order to provide the required information, nor are we obliged to obtain consent in order to process any information the applicant provides. However, the applicant should make third parties aware that they have submitted their details for inclusion in the vetting process.
Under normal circumstances, anyone processing data “fairly and lawfully” would be expected to obtain the consent of the data subject in order to do so. However, it is justifiable for the police service not to seek to obtain the consent of third parties whose data is processed as part of the vetting process as this processing “is necessary for the purposes of the legal obligation to which the data controller (the Chief Constable) is subject” (Data Protection Act 1998, Schedule 2) in line with the Chief Constable’s duty to “maintain an efficient and effective force under the requirements of Sections 6(1) of the Police Act 1996”.
It is also justifiable because in some cases the processing of this data “must necessarily be carried out without the explicit consent of the data subject being sought so as not to prejudice the discharge of that function” (Data Protection Act 1998, Schedule 3, paragraph 2, article 2). Similar justification also exists for interference with aspects of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights that might otherwise constitute a breach.
Who has access to third party information?
Vetting Unit staff have access to all applicant personal vetting files, which includes information on third parties provided by the applicant and information contained on local and national information systems in relation to both the applicant and the third party. There are some exceptions to this such as financial information submitted relating to the applicant and their spouse/partner and a small number of other potentially highly sensitive information sources that are accessible to the Vetting Unit only for the purpose of making vetting decisions.
In addition to this, limited access will be made available on an annual basis to the Nottinghamshire Police Director of Human Resources for the purposes of quality assurance and compliance auditing. Such access will be time bound and restricted to the applicant’s personal vetting files chosen at random to make up a representative sample of the activities of the vetting unit.
You have the right to make a ‘Subject Access’ request in relation to the data we hold about you, which will provide you with a written response detailing any information we hold that is not subject to exemptions. We do not have to disclose certain information for example, information that is held for the prevention or detection of crime, for the apprehension or prosecution of offenders or where the data held clearly identifies another person where the consent of that person cannot/will not be given in order to disclose.
This Subject Access process is managed and administered by the Nottinghamshire Police Data Protection Officer. Access to the information contained in personal vetting files that relate to the individual making the Subject Access request will then be extended to the Data Protection Officer in order for Nottinghamshire Police to fulfil its obligations with respect to your right to access information we hold about you as set out in the Data Protection Act 1998.
Nottinghamshire Police are required by law to respond to subject access requests within 40 days. An administration fee of £10 is payable for accessing this service. For further information about making a Subject Access request please contact the Data Protection Officer on 0115 967 2526.
What happens to the information when it is no longer needed?
One of the eight principles of the Data Protection Act 1998 states that personal data should not be held ‘for longer than is necessary’ and it was with this principle in mind, in balance with the rights of the applicant to contest a vetting decision, that the document retention timescales previously stated were agreed.
The vetting unit follows strict procedures to ensure that files due for weeding are identified and destroyed in a timely manner and in accordance with the set timescales and all relevant legislation. Records are destroyed in situ using crosscut shredders.
We hope this answers the majority of your questions in relation to your inclusion in the vetting process and that any concerns you may have had have now been eased. May we take this opportunity to thank you for your co-operation in anticipation; we greatly appreciate your support and participation in this process. If you would like any further information, guidance or assistance please feel free to contact any member of the Vetting Unit on 0115 967 2660.
NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED