Everything about The Intelligence And Security Committee totally explained
The
Intelligence and Security Committee was established by the
UK Intelligence Services Act of 1994 to oversee
British intelligence agencies. It is a unique committee, as it isn't a
committee of
Parliament, but consists of nine parliamentarians appointed by the
Prime Minister and reporting to him. It has been argued that the ISC should be a select committee of Parliament, but in practice it has greater powers than a select committee: in its inquiry into the
Vasili Mitrokhin affair it was able to obtain papers from former governments and official advice to ministers, both of which are forbidden to select committees.
After each general election the
Prime Minister appoints the nine parliamentarians to the committee in consultation with the
Leader of the Opposition. Members are mostly from the
House of Commons, but at least one must be from the
House of Lords. Serving ministers are not allowed to be members, but several members have previously held ministerial positions. Details of the most recent committee, including its final report and the government's response, are on its web page
(External Link
). The committee ceases to exist when Parliament is dissolved; after the election the Prime Minister reforms the committee.
The Committee's formal responsibilities are to examine the expenditure, administration and policies of the
Secret Intelligence Service (MI6),
Security Service (MI5) and
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). It has however in practice extended its oversight responsibilities to include the
Defence Intelligence Staff (External Link) and
Cabinet Office Joint Intelligence Committee machinery. Its own views of its responsibilities are set out in a brochure on oversight
(External Link).
The work of the committee is invariably conducted in secret, though a sanitised annual report is issued. The committee also produces reports on issues of particular concern, either on its own initiative or at the request of government ministers. From 1999 to 2004 the committee employed an Investigator,
John Morrison.
As of 2007, the current committee members are:
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