Intelligence and Security Committee
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) is a statutory joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, appointed to oversee the work of the UK intelligence community. The committee was established in 1994 by the
Intelligence Services Act 1994 The Intelligence Services Act 1994 (c. 13) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act, sometimes abbreviated as ISA, is introduced by the long title which states: An Act to make provision about the Secret Intelligence Service ...
, and its powers were reinforced by the
Justice and Security Act 2013 The Justice and Security Act 2013 (c. 18) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, firstly to provide for oversight of the Security Service (MI5), the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ ...
.


Work of the committee

The committee's statutory remit (under the
Justice and Security Act 2013 The Justice and Security Act 2013 (c. 18) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, firstly to provide for oversight of the Security Service (MI5), the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ ...
) is to examine the expenditure, administration, policy and operations of the security and intelligence Agencies; the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), the Security Service (MI5) and
Government Communications Headquarters Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Uni ...
(GCHQ) and
Defence Intelligence Defence Intelligence (DI) is an organisation within the United Kingdom intelligence community which focuses on gathering and analysing military intelligence. It differs from the UK's intelligence agencies (MI6, GCHQ and MI5) in that it is an ...
in the Ministry of Defence, the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism (OSCT) in the Home Office and the intelligence-related work of the Cabinet Office including the Joint Intelligence Organisation (JIO) and the National Security Secretariat (NSS). The members of the committee are notified under the Official Secrets Act 1989 and are given access to highly classified material in carrying out their duties. The committee holds evidence sessions with government ministers and senior officials (for example, the heads of the security and intelligence agencies), expert witnesses such as academics and journalists, and other interested parties. It also considers written evidence from the intelligence and security agencies and relevant government departments. The work of the committee is invariably conducted in secret. The committee produces an annual report which focuses on administration and finance, and special reports on operational or policy issues which it considers are of particular concern. The government is required to respond to the committee's reports within 60 days. The committee published five reports in 2018 – a report examining the 2017 UK terror attacks, two reports on detainee mistreatment and rendition, a report on diversity and inclusion in the UK intelligence community and an annual report. In 2019 the committee published a statement on 5G suppliers and was due to publish a report on Russia but was unable to do so because the prime minister did not confirm that the report could be published before Parliament dissolved for the 2019 general election. Unlike a select committee, the ISC shares its reports with the government and agencies it oversees in advance of publication. This is to ensure that no details which might damage national security are published. Each report is subject to four stages: requests for factual amendments; requests for redactions; contested requests for redactions (where the committee is unwilling to accept an initial redaction request, representatives of the agencies must appear to argue the case); and confirmation from the prime minister that the document no longer contains any details damaging to national security. By convention, the prime minister has 10 working days in which to examine the report and confirm that there are no national security issues outstanding. Once that certification is received the committee makes administrative arrangement to lay the report before Parliament.


Structure

The ISC is unusual, being a statutory committee rather than a normal parliamentary select committee. Originally constituted under the
Intelligence Services Act 1994 The Intelligence Services Act 1994 (c. 13) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act, sometimes abbreviated as ISA, is introduced by the long title which states: An Act to make provision about the Secret Intelligence Service ...
the committee was reformed, and its powers expanded by the
Justice and Security Act 2013 The Justice and Security Act 2013 (c. 18) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, firstly to provide for oversight of the Security Service (MI5), the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ ...
. The committee has an independent secretariat of analysts and investigators and an independent webpage. The degree to which it is independent was historically questioned by journalists and privacy groups such as
Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
although the ISC itself says it is independent because it is composed of cross-party MPs and peers and operates in a non-partisan manner. The ISC gained stronger powers under the
Justice and Security Act 2013 The Justice and Security Act 2013 (c. 18) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, firstly to provide for oversight of the Security Service (MI5), the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ ...
and is no longer appointed by the prime minister: as a result its reports since then have been seen as independent.


Membership

Parliament appoints the nine members from both the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
and the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
, after considering nominations from the prime minister, made following discussion with the Leader of the Opposition. The committee elect their own chair from amongst the members. Serving ministers are not allowed to be members, but members may previously have held ministerial positions. Members of the committee cease to be members when Parliament is dissolved, and new members are appointed after the new Parliament convenes.
Malcolm Rifkind Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind (born 21 June 1946) is a British politician who served in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1986 to 1997, and most recently as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament from ...
was chair until 24 February 2015, when he resigned following a sting by journalists involving a bogus Chinese company and his suspension from the Conservative Party. Former Attorney General
Dominic Grieve Dominic Charles Roberts Grieve (born 24 May 1956) is a British barrister and former politician who served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2008 to 2009 and Attorney General for England and Wales from 2010 to 2014. He served as the Member of Parl ...
was elected by the committee as his replacement on 15 September 2015 when it reconvened after the 2015 general election. He was re-elected as chair by the committee on 23 November 2017 when it reconvened after the June 2017 general election. On 15 July 2020, it was reported that
Chris Grayling Christopher Stephen Grayling (born 1 April 1962) is a British Conservative Party politician and author who served as Secretary of State for Transport from 2016 to 2019. He has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Epsom and Ewell since 2001. ...
had failed to secure the nomination as chair of the committee. Acting against the Conservative Whip,
Julian Lewis Julian Murray Lewis (born 26 September 1951) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP), representing New Forest East since 1997. Lewis has served as Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee s ...
was elected chair by the members of the ISC. As a consequence, he had the Conservative Whip temporarily removed. A ‘senior government source’ told the BBC that Dr Lewis "has been told by the chief whip that it is because he worked with Labour and other opposition MPs for his own advantage". Grayling subsequently resigned from the committee on 28 August. Bob Stewart has been appointed as Grayling's replacement. The membership of the committee for the 2019–2024 Parliament is as follows:


The Russia report

The "Russia report" is the Intelligence and Security Committee's report into allegations of Russian interference in British politics, including alleged Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum. According to the report, there is substantial evidence that Russian interference in British politics is commonplace. According to the ''Guardian'', the main points of the report are: * UK government failed to investigate evidence of successful interference in democratic processes * ‘Credible open-source commentary’ suggesting Russia sought to influence Scottish independence referendum * Russian influence in the UK is ‘the new normal’ * Links between Russian elite and UK politics * Intelligence community ‘took its eye off the ball’ on Russia * UK's paper-and-pencil voting system makes direct interference harder * Defending UK's democratic processes is a ‘hot potato’ * Errors in Salisbury poisoning and weapons watchdog hack do not diminish Moscow threat * New legislation needed to replace outdated spy laws. The inquiry began in November 2017, and a 50-page report was completed in March 2019. The report thereafter went through a process of redaction by intelligence and security agencies and was sent to Prime Minister
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
on 17 October 2019. Johnson's government refused to publicly release the report before the general election in December 2019. A number of legal actions are underway to try to force the government to publish it: one brought by the widow of the murdered Russian dissident
Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Valterovich "Sasha" Litvinenko (30 August 1962 ( at WebCite) or 4 December 1962 – 23 November 2006) was a British-naturalised Russian defector and former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) who specialised ...
, and another brought by the
Bureau of Investigative Journalism The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (typically abbreviated to TBIJ or "the Bureau") is a nonprofit news organisation based in London. It was founded in 2010 to pursue "public interest" investigations. Prime Minister's Questions Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs, officially known as Questions to the Prime Minister, while colloquially known as Prime Minister's Question Time) is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom, currently held as a single session every W ...
in February 2020 that the report would be released, but that it could not be released until the Intelligence and Security Committee (which disbanded following the
dissolution of parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly is the mandatory simultaneous resignation of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy, the new assemb ...
ahead of the election) was reconstituted; a former chair of the committee,
Dominic Grieve Dominic Charles Roberts Grieve (born 24 May 1956) is a British barrister and former politician who served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2008 to 2009 and Attorney General for England and Wales from 2010 to 2014. He served as the Member of Parl ...
, said that this was an "entirely bogus" reason for delaying publication. Grieve stated that the time between approval of release and publication was typically 10 days. By June 2020, the report had still not been released, and the Intelligence and Security Committee had not been convened, the longest gap since the committee's creation in 1994. This prompted a cross-party group of 30 MPs to urge the committee to be reconstituted and the report to be published, writing that serious issues of "transparency and integrity" of the democratic process were raised by the withholding of the report. Th
full report
was released on Tuesday 21 July 2020 at 1030 BST.


See also

*
British intelligence agencies The Government of the United Kingdom maintains intelligence agencies within three government departments, the Foreign Office, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence. These agencies are responsible for collecting and analysing foreign and do ...
*
Joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom A joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is a joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, formed to examine a particular issue, whose members are drawn from both the House of Commons and House of Lords. It is a type ...
*
Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present) Ongoing news reports in the international media have revealed operational details about the Anglophone cryptographic agencies' global surveillance of both foreign and domestic nationals. The reports mostly emanate from a cache of top secre ...
*
Intelligence and Security Committee (New Zealand) The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) is a statutory select committee of the New Zealand Parliament, currently governed under the Intelligence and Security Act (2017). It is the parliamentary oversight committee that manages New Zealand's ...
*
Investigatory Powers Tribunal In the United Kingdom, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) is a judicial body, independent of the British government, which hears complaints about surveillance by public bodies—in fact, "the only Tribunal to whom complaints about the Intel ...
*
Mass surveillance in the United Kingdom The use of electronic surveillance by the United Kingdom grew from the development of signal intelligence and pioneering code breaking during World War II. In the post-war period, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) was formed ...
*
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) is a joint committee of the Parliament of Australia which oversees Australia's primary agencies of the Australian Intelligence Community: Australian Security Intelligence Organi ...
(Australia) *
Parliamentary Committees of the United Kingdom The parliamentary committees of the United Kingdom are committees of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Each consists of a small number of Members of Parliament from the House of Commons, or peers from the House of Lords, or a mix of both, ap ...
*
Security Intelligence Review Committee The Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC; french: Comité de surveillance des activités de renseignement de sécurité) was a committee of Privy Councillors that was empowered to serve as an independent oversight and review body for the o ...
(Canada) *
United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (sometimes referred to as the Intelligence Committee or SSCI) is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Intelligence And Security Committee Inte National security of the United Kingdom United Kingdom intelligence community Legislative intelligence oversight 1994 establishments in the United Kingdom