UK Joint Intelligence Committee
Encyclopedia
The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) is the part of the British Cabinet Office
responsible for directing the national intelligence organisations of the United Kingdom
on behalf of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom
and providing advice to the Cabinet related to security, defence and foreign affairs. It oversees the setting of priorities for the three intelligence and security agencies (Secret Intelligence Service
, Security Service
, GCHQ
), as well as Defence Intelligence, and establishes professional standards for intelligence analysis in government.
and is an element of the Intelligence, Security and Resilience organisation within Cabinet Office.
The Committee is chaired by a permanent chairman, a member of the Senior Civil Service with, who is supported by the Intelligence and Security Secretariat and an assessment staff. The assessment staff is made up of experienced senior analysts drawn from across government and the military and conducts all-source analysis on subjects of interest to the committee. JIC papers written by the staff draw input from across the intelligence and security agencies and other related bodies.
Membership comprises the heads of the three collection agencies—the Secret Intelligence Service, Security Service and GCHQ—the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Deputy Chief of Defence Intelligence Staff, the Chief of the Assessment Staff, representatives of the Ministry of Defence
, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
and other departments, and the Prime Minister
's adviser on foreign affairs.
, the advisory peacetime defence planning agency. During World War II, it became the senior intelligence assessment body in the UK. In 1957 the JIC moved to the Cabinet Office
, where its assessments staff prepare draft intelligence assessments for the committee to consider.
Since founding, the Committee's Chair has been as follows:
Central Intelligence Agency
has attended the JIC's weekly meetings. One former US intelligence officer has described this as the "highlight of the job" for the London CIA chief. Resident intelligence chiefs from Australia
, Canada
, and New Zealand
may attend when certain issues are discussed.
's Weapons of Mass Destruction
in the run up to war. There were allegations that the dossier was "sexed up" prior to publication in order to bolster the case for military action. Evidence that the wording of the dossier was "strengthened" was presented to the Hutton Inquiry
, a judicial review set up to investigate the circumstances leading up to the death of an eminent government weapons expert David Kelly who had criticised the wording of the dossier in off-the-record briefings to journalists. Dr. Kelly committed suicide shortly after his identity was confirmed to the media by the government. JIC members John Scarlett
and Sir Richard Dearlove
(then head of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service) gave evidence to the Inquiry in which they argued that the words used in the dossier were consistent with their assessment of the intelligence available at the time.
Despite the work of the 1400 strong Iraq Survey Group
in post-war Iraq, no evidence of actual WMD capability has so far been uncovered; according to its final report in September 2004. The US and UK Governments both announced investigations into the assessment of WMD intelligence in the run up to war. The British inquiry, headed by Lord Butler of Brockwell
, in its report in July 2004, while critical of the British intelligence community, did not recommend that anyone should resign. Similarly, the US Senate
Intelligence Committee, while critical of US intelligence officials, did not recommend any resignations in its report, also issued in July 2004.
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
responsible for directing the national intelligence organisations of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on behalf of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
and providing advice to the Cabinet related to security, defence and foreign affairs. It oversees the setting of priorities for the three intelligence and security agencies (Secret Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
, Security Service
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
, GCHQ
Government Communications Headquarters
The Government Communications Headquarters is a British intelligence agency responsible for providing signals intelligence and information assurance to the UK government and armed forces...
), as well as Defence Intelligence, and establishes professional standards for intelligence analysis in government.
Structure
The JIC is subject to oversight by the Intelligence and Security CommitteeIntelligence and Security Committee
The Intelligence and Security Committee is a committee of parliamentarians appointed by the Prime Minister to oversee the work of the Intelligence machinery of the United Kingdom...
and is an element of the Intelligence, Security and Resilience organisation within Cabinet Office.
The Committee is chaired by a permanent chairman, a member of the Senior Civil Service with, who is supported by the Intelligence and Security Secretariat and an assessment staff. The assessment staff is made up of experienced senior analysts drawn from across government and the military and conducts all-source analysis on subjects of interest to the committee. JIC papers written by the staff draw input from across the intelligence and security agencies and other related bodies.
Membership comprises the heads of the three collection agencies—the Secret Intelligence Service, Security Service and GCHQ—the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Deputy Chief of Defence Intelligence Staff, the Chief of the Assessment Staff, representatives of the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
and other departments, and the Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
's adviser on foreign affairs.
Function
The JIC has three functions:- Advising the Prime MinisterPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
and Cabinet Ministers on intelligence collection and analysis priorities in support of national objectives. - Directing the collection and analysis effort of the Secret Intelligence Service, Government Communications Headquarters, the Security Service and the Ministry of DefenceMinistry of Defence (United Kingdom)The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
based on those recommendations. The direction to the Ministry of Defence is implemented by Defence Intelligence. - Assuring the professional standards of civilian intelligence analysis staff across the range of intelligence related activities in Her Majesty's Government.
Requirements and priorities
The JIC drafts the annual Requirements and Priorities for collection and analysis, for approval by Ministers. These support the strategic national security objectives of the UK:- Protect UK and British territories, and British nationals and property, from a range of threats, including from terrorism and espionage;
- Protect and promote Britain's defence and foreign policy interests;
- Protect and promote the UK's economic well-being; and
- Support the prevention and detection of serious crime.
History
The JIC was founded in 1936 as a sub-committee of the Committee of Imperial DefenceCommittee of Imperial Defence
The Committee of Imperial Defence was an important ad hoc part of the government of the United Kingdom and the British Empire from just after the Second Boer War until the start of World War II...
, the advisory peacetime defence planning agency. During World War II, it became the senior intelligence assessment body in the UK. In 1957 the JIC moved to the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
, where its assessments staff prepare draft intelligence assessments for the committee to consider.
Since founding, the Committee's Chair has been as follows:
- Sir Ralph StevensonRalph StevensonSir Ralph Clarmont Skrine Stevenson, GCMG, MLC, CP was a British diplomat.In 1943, he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a post he held until 1946. Stevenson was Her Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt from 1950 to...
, 1936–39 - Lord Victor Cavendish BentinckVictor Cavendish-Bentinck, 9th Duke of PortlandVictor Frederick William Cavendish-Bentinck, 9th Duke of Portland , the younger brother of Ferdinand William Cavendish-Bentinck, 8th Duke of Portland, was a British diplomat and held the post of Ambassador to Poland...
, 1939–45 (subsequently The 9th Duke of Portland) - Sir Harold CacciaHarold Caccia, Baron CacciaHarold Anthony Caccia, Baron Caccia, GCMG, GCVO, GCStJ was a British diplomat....
, 1945–48 (subsequently The Lord Caccia) - Sir William HayterWilliam Goodenough HayterSir William Goodenough Hayter, 1st Baronet PC, QC was a British barrister and Whig politician. He is best remembered for his two tenures as Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury between 1850 and 1852 and 1853 and 1858.- Background and education:Born at Winterbourne Stoke, Wiltshire, Hayter was...
, 1948–49 - Sir Patrick ReillyPatrick ReillySir Patrick Reilly, GCMG was a British diplomat who served as ambassador to the USSR and France.D'Arcy Patrick Reilly was at Ootacamund, India, the only son of Sir D'Arcy Reilly, Chief Justice of Mysore. He was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford, where he was awarded BA in 1932...
, 1950–53 - Sir Patrick DeanPatrick DeanSir Patrick Henry Dean, GCMG, was Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations from 1960 to 1964 and British Ambassador to the United States from 1965 to 1969....
, 1953–60 - Sir Hugh Stevenson, 1960–63
- Sir Bernard BurrowsBernard Alexander Brocas BurrowsSir Bernard Alexander Brocas Burrows was a British diplomat.Burrows studied at Eton College and Trinity College in Oxford. In 1934, after two years spent learning languages in France, Austria and Italy, he entered the Diplomatic Service...
, 1963–66 - Sir Denis Greenhill, 1966–68 (subsequently The Lord Greenhill)
- Sir Edward Peck, 1968–70
- Sir Stewart CrawfordStewart CrawfordSir Robert Stewart Crawford GCMG CVO, , known as Stewart Crawford, was a British diplomat.-Background:...
, 1970–73 - Sir Geoffrey Arthur, 1973–75
- Sir Antony Duff, 1975–79
- Sir Antony Acland, 1979–82
- Sir Patrick WrightPatrick Wright, Baron Wright of RichmondPatrick Richard Henry Wright, Baron Wright of Richmond GCMG is a retired British diplomat and former Head of HM Diplomatic Service.-Background:Patrick Wright, the son of Herbert and Rachel Wright, was educated at Marlborough College...
, 1982–84 (subsequently The Lord Wright) - Sir Percy Craddock, 1985–92
- Sir Rodric BraithwaiteRodric BraithwaiteSir Rodric Quentin Braithwaite, GCMG is a British diplomat and author.Braithwaite was educated at Bedales School and Christ's College, Cambridge. After his Military Service, he joined HM Diplomatic Service in 1955. His diplomatic career included posts in Indonesia, Italy, Poland, the Soviet Union,...
, 1992–93 - Dame Pauline Neville-Jones, 1993–94 (subsequently The Lady Neville-Jones)
- Sir Paul Lever, 1994–97
- Michael Pakenham, 1997–2000
- Sir Peter RickettsPeter RickettsSir Peter Forbes Ricketts, GCMG is a senior British diplomat who currently serves as National Security Adviser to HM Government...
, 2000 – September 2001 - Sir John ScarlettJohn ScarlettSir John McLeod Scarlett, KCMG, OBE was Director General of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 2004 to 2009...
, 2001–2005 - Sir Richard MottramRichard MottramSir Richard Clive Mottram, GCB is chairman or board member of a number of private and public sector organisations, many with international links. He is chairman of the board of Amey PLC and of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory , and a Board member of the International Advisory Board of...
, 2005–2007 (as Permanent Secretary, Intelligence, Security and Resilience) - Alex AllanAlex AllanAlexander Allan is the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee of the United Kingdom and Head of Intelligence Assessment. He is the son of Robert Allan, Baron Allan of Kilmahew.- Early life :...
, 2007–
Foreign involvement
Ever since World War II, the chief of the London station of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
has attended the JIC's weekly meetings. One former US intelligence officer has described this as the "highlight of the job" for the London CIA chief. Resident intelligence chiefs from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
may attend when certain issues are discussed.
Role in the Iraq dossier
The JIC recently played a controversial role in compiling a dossier in which the UK government set out the threat posed by IraqIraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
's Weapons of Mass Destruction
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
in the run up to war. There were allegations that the dossier was "sexed up" prior to publication in order to bolster the case for military action. Evidence that the wording of the dossier was "strengthened" was presented to the Hutton Inquiry
Hutton Inquiry
The Hutton Inquiry was a 2003 judicial inquiry in the UK chaired by Lord Hutton, who was appointed by the Labour government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly, a biological warfare expert and former UN weapons inspector in Iraq.On 18 July 2003, Kelly, an employee...
, a judicial review set up to investigate the circumstances leading up to the death of an eminent government weapons expert David Kelly who had criticised the wording of the dossier in off-the-record briefings to journalists. Dr. Kelly committed suicide shortly after his identity was confirmed to the media by the government. JIC members John Scarlett
John Scarlett
Sir John McLeod Scarlett, KCMG, OBE was Director General of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 2004 to 2009...
and Sir Richard Dearlove
Richard Dearlove
Sir Richard Billing Dearlove, KCMG, OBE was head of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 1999 until 6 May 2004.-Career:...
(then head of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service) gave evidence to the Inquiry in which they argued that the words used in the dossier were consistent with their assessment of the intelligence available at the time.
Despite the work of the 1400 strong Iraq Survey Group
Iraq Survey Group
The Iraq Survey Group was a fact-finding mission sent by the multinational force in Iraq after the 2003 invasion of Iraq to find the alleged weapons of mass destruction alleged to be possessed by Iraq that had been the main ostensible reason for the invasion. Its final report is commonly called...
in post-war Iraq, no evidence of actual WMD capability has so far been uncovered; according to its final report in September 2004. The US and UK Governments both announced investigations into the assessment of WMD intelligence in the run up to war. The British inquiry, headed by Lord Butler of Brockwell
Robin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell
Frederick Edward Robin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell, is a retired British civil servant, now sitting in the House of Lords as a Life Peer.-Life:Butler was born in Lytham St Annes on on 3 January, 1938...
, in its report in July 2004, while critical of the British intelligence community, did not recommend that anyone should resign. Similarly, the US Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Intelligence Committee, while critical of US intelligence officials, did not recommend any resignations in its report, also issued in July 2004.
External links
- UK Intelligence Community
- Sir Edward Peck – Daily Telegraph obituary