The vac system is driven off the air pump for the brake servo.
At the rear of the motor, near the driver's side bulkhead, you can see the large-diameter tube that goes into the bulkhead for the brake servo.
On mine, the vac line for the EGR and VNT branches off this large tube, goes up to a t-piece. One end of the t-piece points to the N18, the other end goes to a small cylindrical (black & white) check valve which (I think) only allows flow one-way -- i.e. toward the pump. Then it goes onto the VNT actuator and the anti-shudder solenoid, and tees into the airbox too.
I've suspected that the check valve could leak where the black and white halves meet, so I wrapped it round with a layer of insulating tape to make sure.
I did a 2-stage treatment on all the vac connections that I could get at -- first a tiny drop of "seek & seal" silicon sealant on each joint, which you can get from Halfords. It's a thin liquid which never sets, stays tacky so it finds & seals any leaks. Then a couple of turns of plumbers PTFE tape on each joint.
Anal retentive? Me?