The Prime Minister has approved the appointment of four new members to the Security Vetting Appeals Panel. They are James Barron CBE, Sally Berlin, Nicholas Griffin QC and Claire Stokes, who have all been appointed with effect from 1 April 2017.
The new appointments replace Sue Jarvis, Stephen Monk, Claire Smith and Robert Wright who recently retired from the Panel after several years of service. At the same time, the appointments of the Chair, Sir George Newman and Deputy Chair, Sir Stephen Silber have been extended to 31 March 2019 and 31 March 2018 respectively.
The Security Vetting Appeals Panel was set up in 1997 to provide an independent means of challenging a decision to refuse or withdraw national security vetting clearance. It is available to hear appeals from individuals in government departments, the armed forces and other organisations, or their contractors, who have exhausted the internal appeals process and remain dissatisfied with the outcome.
The Chair and Deputy Chair are retired members of the judiciary, with other members having relevant experience at a senior level both inside and outside government. They form a panel from which 3, including the Chair or the Deputy Chair, are normally selected on each occasion when the Panel is required to hear an appeal.
These appointments have been made in accordance with the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies.
