Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Security Clearance for Applicants for Civil Service and Public Service Positions, by Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law

Question:

Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Home Affairs what are the factors currently taken into consideration in the conduct of security clearances for applicants for civil service and public service positions.

Answer:

1.        Several factors are taken into consideration in the conduct of security clearances, including the nature of the work in the position, and the confidentiality of the information that the position deals with. Security checks will vary for different positions, with different levels of access to confidential information, or access to different types of persons. For operational reasons, I will not be able to go into the specifics. But I will give one general example:  A Permanent Secretary will, in general, have different access to confidential information compared with an entry level junior officer. The requisite security checks will naturally be different.

2.        I note that the Member had asked a similar question on the same topic in 2016, and I had provided my reply then. It will be helpful for the Member to check the questions he has asked previously. The Hansard has them.