CABINET OFFICE News
Release (INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY COMMITTEE) issued by COI News
Distribution Service. 5 March 2009
The Intelligence
and Security Committee's Annual Report for 2007-2008 was laid
before Parliament today by the Prime Minister.
Commenting on the Report, which was delivered to the Prime
Minister on 16 December 2008, Dr. Kim Howells MP, Chairman of the
Committee, said:
"Over the past year the Intelligence and Security Committee
has held 26 formal meetings and 25 other meetings, and undertaken
a number of visits. Our most time-consuming task during this
period has been the completion of our Review of the Intelligence
on the London Terrorist Attacks on 7 July 2005. This is the
subject of a separate, detailed report, which, for legal reasons,
it has not yet been possible to publish. We have also during 2008
begun investigations into a number of other areas, which we refer
to in this Report but do not comment on in detail since we are
still conducting our enquiries.
"The focus of this Report is the administration, policy and
finance of the Agencies and issues concerning the wider
intelligence community.
"There continue to be a wide range of threats to the UK,
both terrorist and non-terrorist. The current threat to the UK
from international terrorism is assessed as 'Severe'.
This means that there is a continuing high level of threat to the
UK and, in particular, that there is a high likelihood of a
terrorist attack in this country.
"The threat of international terrorism comes from a diverse
range of sources, including al Qaeda and associated networks, and
those who share its ideology but who do not have direct contact
with them. Al Qaeda and related terrorist groups have shown an
exceptional level of ambition and willingness to carry out
indiscriminate terrorist attacks, and the threat they pose is
likely to persist for a considerable time. This places
considerable pressure on the intelligence and security agencies -
working with the police, Government departments, and other key
partners - who are working to find those who are planning an
attack and prevent them from carrying it through.
Counter-terrorism work is highly pressurised, and often dangerous
for those involved. They have achieved a number of notable
successes over the past year where plots have been disrupted, and
individuals brought to trial and convicted: we record our thanks
to them for all their hard work.
"Whilst the primary focus is necessarily on International
Counter-Terrorism (ICT) work, the UK's intelligence and
security Agencies also dedicate resources towards countering the
threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,
regional instability, espionage, and other challenges. In
addition, they continue to provide unprecedented operational
support to UK military operations.
"The Agencies' resources have increased, and will
continue to increase over the next three years, but they still
have to make difficult decisions about priorities, often on a
daily basis. The stark reality is that they cannot cover all the
threats to the level we would all wish. "This report examines
all the challenges the Agencies face in allocating their
resources, how they use those resources, and how we can ensure
they are providing value for money [particularly in the current
economic climate]. It also examines common areas of concern such
as resilience.
"The Report also examines the work of the wider intelligence
community: it is clear that the Agencies can not work in
isolation, and therefore in overseeing them we must also examine
the work of others. The Report therefore also comments on the
Government's counter-terrorism strategy (CONTEST) and the
work of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism in the Home
Office; the intelligence structure in the Cabinet Office
(including the Joint Intelligence Committee and the Assessments
Staff); other Agencies within the community, such as the Defence
Intelligence Staff, the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre and the
Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure; and issues
which affect the community as a whole such as the use of intercept
material as evidence in court, and the SCOPE IT system.
"In commenting on this Report I wish, on behalf of the
Committee, to thank my predecessors, the Rt Hon Paul Murphy MP
(Chairman of the Committee until January 2008), and the Rt Hon
Margaret Beckett MP (Chairman of the Committee until October
2008). We are grateful to them for their excellent leadership of
the Committee."
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The Intelligence and Security Committee, which was established
by the Intelligence Services Act 1994, provides parliamentary
oversight of SIS, GCHQ and the Security Service. The Committee
examines the expenditure, administration and policy of the three
Agencies and has access to the range of Agency activities and to
highly classified information. Its cross-party membership of nine
is appointed from both Houses by the Prime Minister in
consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. The Committee is
required to report annually to the Prime Minister on its work.
These Annual Reports are placed before Parliament by the Prime
Minister, after the deletion of any sensitive material. The
Committee also provides ad hoc reports to the Prime Minister on occasion.
2. In this report the Committee focuses on its statutory role of
examining the administration, policy and expenditure of the three
Agencies - the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service
(SIS) and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). It
has also examined matters relating to the wider Intelligence Community.
3. During the reporting period, the Committee held 26 formal and
25 other meetings and took evidence from the Foreign Secretary,
the Home Secretary and senior officials including the Cabinet
Secretary, the Head, Intelligence, Security and Resilience, the
heads of the Agencies, and the Chief of Defence Intelligence.
4. The current Committee members are:
Dr. Kim Howells, MP (Chairman) - since 21 October 2008.
Rt. Hon. Michael Ancram QC, MP
Rt. Hon. Sir Menzies Campbell CBE QC, MP - since 4 December 2008
Mr Ben Chapman, MP
Rt. Hon. Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
Rt. Hon. George Howarth, MP
Rt. Hon. Michael Mates, MP
Mr Richard Ottaway, MP
Ms Dari Taylor, MP
The former Chairman, the Rt. Hon. Margaret Beckett MP, was
appointed Minister of State for Housing and Planning on 3 October
2008. Her predecessor, the Rt. Hon. Paul Murphy MP, was appointed
Secretary of State for Wales on 24 January 2008. The Rt. Hon. Sir
Alan Beith MP resigned from the Committee on 4 December 2008 and
was replaced by the Rt. Hon Sir Menzies Campbell CBE QC MP.
5. The Committee do not discuss their work programme or evidence
given to them other than through official reports or official
press releases. The latest news can be found on the
Committee's website - http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/intelligence
6. Copies of the Annual Report are available from TSO (The
Stationery Office). Copies of the Intelligence and Security
Committee's earlier reports can be found at http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/intelligence
or can be purchased from TSO.
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