Diversity and Inclusion in the UK Intelligence Community
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Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament Diversity and Inclusion in the UK Intelligence Community Chair: The Rt Hon. Dominic Grieve QC MP HC 1297 Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament Diversity and Inclusion in the UK Intelligence Community Chair: The Rt Hon. Dominic Grieve QC MP Presented to Parliament pursuant to section 3 of the Justice and Security Act 2013 Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 18 July 2018 HC 1297 © Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament copyright 2018 The material must be acknowledged as Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament copyright and the document title specified. Where third party material has been identified, permission from the respective copyright holder must be sought. This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us via our webform at isc.independent.gov.uk/contact This publication is also available on our website at: isc.independent.gov.uk ISBN 978-1-5286-0669-1 CCS0718997712 07/18 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum Printed in the UK by the APS Group on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office THE INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT The Rt Hon. Dominic Grieve QC MP (Chair) The Rt Hon. Richard Benyon MP The Rt Hon. the Lord Janvrin GCB GCVO QSO The Rt Hon. Ian Blackford MP The Rt Hon. Kevan Jones MP The Rt Hon. Caroline Flint MP The Most Hon. the Rt Hon. the Marquess of Lothian QC The Rt Hon. David Hanson MP The Rt Hon. Keith Simpson MP The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) is a statutory committee of Parliament that has responsibility for oversight of the UK intelligence community. The Committee was originally established by the Intelligence Services Act 1994 and has recently been reformed, and its powers reinforced, by the Justice and Security Act 2013. The Committee oversees the intelligence and security activities of the UK including the policies, expenditure, administration and operations of the Security Service (MI5), the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).* The Committee also scrutinises the work of other parts of the UK intelligence community, including the Joint Intelligence Organisation and the National Security Secretariat in the Cabinet Office; Defence Intelligence in the Ministry of Defence; and the Office for Security and Counter‑Terrorism in the Home Office. The Committee consists of nine Members drawn from both Houses of Parliament. The Chair is elected by its Members. The Members of the Committee are subject to section 1(1)(b) of the Official Secrets Act 1989 and are routinely given access to highly classified material in carrying out their duties. The Committee sets its own agenda and work programme. It takes evidence from Government Ministers, the Heads of the security and intelligence Agencies, officials from the intelligence community and other witnesses as required. The Committee is supported in its work by a Secretariat. It also has access to legal, technical and financial expertise where necessary. The Committee makes an annual report to Parliament on the discharge of its functions. The Committee may also produce reports on specific investigations. Prior to the Committee publishing its reports, sensitive material that would damage national security is blanked out (‘redacted’). This is indicated by *** in the text. The Security and Intelligence Agencies may request the redaction of material in a report if its publication would damage their work, for example by revealing their targets, methods, sources or operational capabilities. The Committee considers these requests for redaction carefully. The Agencies have to demonstrate clearly how publication of the material in question would be damaging before the Committee agrees to redact it. The Committee aims to ensure that only the minimum of text is redacted from a report. The Committee believes that it is important that Parliament and the public should be able to see where information had to be redacted. This means that the published report is the same as the classified version sent to the Prime Minister (albeit with redactions). The Committee also prepares from time to time wholly confidential reports which it submits to the Prime Minister. * Subject to the criteria set out in section 2 of the Justice and Security Act 2013. iii CONTENTS FOREWORD1 1 THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY 3 2 DIVERSITY IN THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY – OVERVIEW 5 3 THE BUSINESS CASE FOR DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION 7 4 DATA 13 5 THE IMPORTANCE OF SENIOR LEADERSHIP 19 6 RECRUITMENT POLICY AND PRACTICE 25 7 CAREER AND CULTURE 31 ANNEX A: DIVERSITY STATISTICS 2016–2017 41 ANNEX B: THE AGENCIES – RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGNS43 v FOREWORD In a complex and interconnected world, the nature of our national security challenges and opportunities are increasingly global. As a society whose members trace their roots to every region around the world, the British people are our greatest asset when it comes to the UK’s ability to build bridges to communities at home and abroad, address foreign threats and aggression, and keep our country safe. Today, in an increasingly competitive employment market, it is important that the intelligence community is able to attract and draw upon the skill, talent and experience of all sectors of our society – to reflect, protect and promote our values, and keep our nation safe. It is essential that these organisations reflect the UK of today with a diverse and inclusive workforce. Diversity encourages challenge, drives innovation and ensures better decision‑making – whilst this is important in any organisation or sector, it is an operational imperative for the intelligence community. The Intelligence and Security Committee has a wide‑ranging oversight role across the intelligence community, covering the whole gamut of activity, from administration and expenditure to operations and assessment of future and ongoing threats. At the heart of this remit are the men and women who undertake this work, and whom we entrust with the vital task of safeguarding our national security. It is therefore important that the Committee’s oversight role includes looking at the profile and demographic data of staff working across these Agencies and organisations, and we routinely request evidence on staff numbers in terms of gender, ethnicity, sexuality and disability. Whilst these statistics are useful indicators, they do not provide the detail and context of what is happening inside these organisations when it comes to promoting diversity and inclusion. The UK intelligence community employs some of this nation’s most talented individuals – the Committee has seen at first hand the commitment and dedication of their staff. It is therefore right to consider what more can be done to develop and manage them, and to be clear that any improvements that can be made will benefit not just those who are currently under‑represented in these Agencies and organisations, but all members of staff. That is why the Committee elected to undertake a review across the Agencies and organisations we oversee and scrutinise those groups which are under‑represented in terms of gender, sexuality,1 ethnicity2 and disability. Our aim was to highlight good practice, identify possible gaps and, where appropriate, make recommendations to help improve the approach. We have found that there has been significant progress in recent years, and we have highlighted specific examples in this Report. We welcome those improvements. However, as many of the people we have spoken to have acknowledged, there is much still to be done. At senior levels in particular, the intelligence community is still not gender balanced and does not fully reflect the ethnic make‑up of modern Britain – whilst 31% of the senior civil servants in MI5 are women, that figure is considerably lower (around 25%) across the other Agencies and rest of the intelligence community. In 2016–2017, just one of the organisations overseen by the Committee had any staff at Senior Civil Service level who declared as BAME. The UK intelligence community should reflect the society it protects. In Britain we pride ourselves on our commitment to democracy with freedom of speech, mutual respect and 1 Sexuality is referenced in this Report as LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender). 2 Ethnicity is referenced in this Report as BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic). 1 Diversity and Inclusion in the UK Intelligence Community opportunity for all, underpinned by a modern system of law and justice. This is in stark contrast to our adversaries, who absolutely do not share these values and may seek to undermine our security and prosperity through hostile action. In the face of such threats, it is essential that the intelligence community is seen to lead by example, and to reflect the population and values of those that it serves. We have heard from the Heads of each of the organisations about their personal commitment to diversity and the significant work they are doing to create more inclusive workplaces. We have also been told about some of the challenges they face and what they are doing to try and overcome these. For example, the Committee recognises that there are particular challenges in terms of security vetting and nationality rules, and that the wider public often has inaccurate and outdated perceptions about these organisations and the type of staff they are now looking to recruit. There is of course no substitute for hearing at first hand from the individuals who work in these organisations. Accordingly, in addition to reviewing data from the intelligence community, we also visited these Agencies and organisations to seek the views of a variety of staff at all grades about diversity and inclusion in their workplace.