The Cabinet Office advises the Prime Minister and ministers on the Government’s response to cross-cutting strategic issues relating to intelligence and leads on intelligence assessment and priorities through the central intelligence machinery. It coordinates the Government’s response to civil emergencies, terrorist incidents and international crises. The Cabinet Office is also responsible for the Single Intelligence Account, which funds the work of the UK intelligence agencies. We work in partnership with all government units with a security or intelligence remit as well as the security and intelligence agencies.
The Cabinet Office leads in:
For more information on the what the United Kingdom’s Intelligence machinery comprises, see National Intelligence Machinery Booklet
Supporting the National Security Council: The central national security and intelligence machinery
In January 2011, the Cabinet Office launched a study to look at maximising the effectiveness of the central national security and intelligence structures in light of the creation of the National Security Council. The recommendations from the review, as well as the terms of reference, can be found below.
Information about the national threat level is available from:
Information on the risks of terrorism for British nationals overseas can be found on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website [external website].
The Intelligence and Security Committee was established by the Intelligence Service Act 1994. It is formed of nine Parliamentarians drawn from both the House of Lords and the House of Commons, and appointed by the Prime Minister to examine the policy, administration and expenditure of the intelligence and security agencies: the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service and the Government Communications Headquarters.
The Committee reports annually to the Prime Minister on its work. These annual reports, after any redactions of sensitive material, are then laid before both Houses of Parliament, together with the Government's response, and debated.
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