Intelligence and Security Committee
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00585_FC_BC_TP 7/6/02 11:36 am Page c Intelligence and Security Committee Annual Report 2001–2002 Chairman: The Rt. Hon. Ann Taylor, MP Intelligence Services Act 1994 Chapter 13 Cm 5542 £x.xx 00585_FC_BC_TP 7/6/02 11:36 am Page 1 Intelligence and Security Committee Annual Report 2001–2002 Chairman: The Rt. Hon. Ann Taylor, MP Intelligence Services Act 1994 Chapter 13 Presented to Parliament by the Prime Minister by Command of Her Majesty JUNE 2002 Cm 5542 £x.xx 00585_ii_iv 7/6/02 11:37 am Page ii ©Crown Copyright 2002 The text in this document (excluding the Royal Arms and departmental logos) may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium providing that it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the title of the document specified. Any enquiries relating to the copyright in this document should be addressed to The Licensing Division, HMSO, St Clements House, 2-16 Colegate, Norwich, NR3 1BQ. Fax: 01603 723000 or e-mail: [email protected] 00585_ii_iv 7/6/02 11:37 am Page iii From the Chairman: The Rt. Hon. Ann Taylor, MP INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY COMMITTEE 70 Whitehall London SW1A 2AS 8 May 2002 The Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, MP Prime Minister 10 Downing Street London SW1A 2AA I enclose the Annual Report of the Intelligence and Security Committee for 2001–2002. Since you appointed us in August, the Committee has been grateful for the time and access that we were given by the Agencies, especially as they were under the intense pressure resulting from the terrorist attacks on the USA. These attacks dominated a significant part of the Committee’s time and may continue to do so. However, we were able to consider other matters, such as serious organised crime. We look forward to discussing this Report with you. ANN TAYLOR iii 00585_ii_iv 7/6/02 11:37 am Page iv INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY COMMITTEE The Rt. Hon. Ann Taylor, MP (Chairman) The Rt. Hon. Lord Archer of Sandwell, QC The Rt. Hon. Alan Howarth, CBE, MP The Rt. Hon. James Arbuthnot, MP Mr Michael Mates, MP The Rt. Hon. Kevin Barron, MP The Rt. Hon. Joyce Quin, MP The Rt. Hon. Alan Beith, MP The Rt. Hon. Gavin Strang, MP iv 00585_pp01_04 7/6/02 11:37 am Page 1 INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY COMMITTEE Annual Report 2001–2002 Contents Glossary – page 3 Introduction – page 5 Work Programme – pages 5–6 The National Intelligence Machinery – pages 6–11 The Joint Intelligence Committee – pages 7–9 Security Service – pages 9–10 SIS – page 10 GCHQ – page 10 Agency Customers – page 11 Information Technology – page 11 Administration – pages 11–13 IPT and Commissioners – pages 11–12 Staffing, Recruitment and Retention – pages 12–13 Expenditure – pages 13–16 Additional Funds – pages 14–15 GCHQ and the New Accommodation Project – pages 15–16 Policy – pages 16–18 Afghanistan and the Attacks on 11 September – pages 19–26 Afghanistan – pages 19–21 Agencies’ Resources – page 21 The Attacks – pages 21–22 Agencies’ Immediate Responses to the Attacks – page 23 Agencies’ Longer-term Responses and Plans – pages 23–26 Serious Organised Crime – pages 26–28 1 00585_pp01_04 7/6/02 7:03 pm Page 2 Secure Communications – pages 28–29 Committee Matters – pages 29–31 The Investigator – page 29 A. Agencies’ Scientific and Technical – pages 29–30 Research and Development Work B. Discharge of Inspectors-General Roles – page 30 in the UK Intelligence System Tasking the Investigator – pages 30–31 Conclusions and Recommendations – pages 32–35 Future Programme of Work – page 36 Appendix 1 – Witnesses – pages 37–38 Appendix 2 – Data Protection Act 1998 – pages 39–44 Reasons Document Appendix 3 – Inspectors-General Functions – pages 45–52 in the UK Intelligence System 2 00585_pp01_04 7/6/02 11:37 am Page 3 GLOSSARY ATCSA Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 CDI Chief of Defence Intelligence CIDA Concerted Inter-Agency Drug Action CNI Critical National Infrastructure CSI Ministerial Committee on the Intelligence Services DCDI Deputy Chief of Defence Intelligence DIS Defence Intelligence Staff DPA Data Protection Act 1998 DTI Department of Trade and Industry EKP Economic Key Points FBI US Federal Bureau of Investigation FCO Foreign and Commonwealth Office FDA First Division Association GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters GIAM Government Internal Audit Manual IA Internal Audit IT Information Technology JARIC Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre JIC Joint Intelligence Committee JIO Joint Intelligence Organisation MoD Ministry of Defence NAO National Audit Office NAP GCHQ’s New Accommodation Programme NCIS National Criminal Intelligence Service NCS National Crime Squad OCSG Organised Crime Strategy Group 3 00585_pp01_04 7/6/02 11:37 am Page 4 PSIS Permanent Secretaries’ Committee on the Intelligence Services RAF Royal Air Force RIPA Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 SCG Strategic Customer Group SIA Single Intelligence Account SIS Secret Intelligence Service SSA SIS Staff Association UBL Usama bin Laden 4 00585_pp05_18 7/6/02 11:38 am Page 5 Introduction 1. This Annual Report covers the Intelligence and Security Committee’s seventh year and is the first produced by the Committee appointed by the Prime Minister in August 2001. This Committee has four members who sat on the Committee in the previous Parliament and five new members, including the Chairman, the Rt. Hon. Ann Taylor, MP. 2. The Committee is established under the Intelligence Services Act 1994 to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the United Kingdom’s three intelligence and security Agencies: the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). Committee members are notified under the Official Secrets Act 1989 and the Committee operates within the “ring of secrecy”. It reports directly to the Prime Minister and through him to Parliament by the publication of this Annual Report. The Committee is supported by a secretariat based in the Cabinet Office. Work Programme 3. The work of the Committee has been dominated, inevitably, by the events surrounding the terrible terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. However, the Committee was also anxious to follow a wider programme of activity because of the importance of the Agencies in other areas. In this work we were guided by the comments made in the previous Committee’s Interim Report 2000–20011. The Committee’s work programme was as follows: a. To familiarise the new Committee members with the National Intelligence Machinery and the work of the Agencies. b. To assess the implications of the 11 September terrorist attacks for the UK intelligence and security Agencies. c. To continue the statutory work of providing effective oversight of the Agencies’ expenditure, administration and policy. In this regard we met the Commissioners and took evidence from the Agencies, members of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) and the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS); and we tasked the Investigator to carry out five investigations. In particular we took evidence on the Agencies’ support for the fight against Serious Organised Crime. d. To develop the Committee’s work programme for the future. 1. Cm 5126. 5 00585_pp05_18 7/6/02 11:38 am Page 6 4. For this Annual Report the Committee took evidence from 37 witnesses. A full list is at Appendix 1 and includes: – The Foreign, Home and Defence Secretaries, the Attorney General and Chief Secretary to the Treasury; – The Heads of the Security Service, SIS, GCHQ, the Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI) and the JIC Chairman; – Officers from the three Agencies and officials from the Cabinet Office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office, the National Audit Office and Law Enforcement Organisations. 5. In addition to these formal evidence sessions, the Committee undertook visits to the three Agencies, the Joint Intelligence Organisation (JIO), the DIS, and the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), for informal briefing sessions. The Committee also visited RAF Menwith Hill and met UK and US staff working at this important joint intelligence support facility. 6. A small group of members made a short visit to Washington DC in November 2001 to meet Congressional colleagues and US Intelligence Agencies. The Committee visited France in January 2002 and we have hosted delegations from Australia, Germany, USA and Japan. Additionally, the Committee is hosting the International Intelligence Review Agencies Conference in May 2002, at which Inspectors-General, Parliamentary and other Oversight Committees will discuss oversight issues. 7. The Committee has been impressed by the Agencies’ work during the period covered by this Report. The Committee found it useful to meet some of the Agencies’ staff who had been involved in the follow-up work to the 11 September attacks, as well as other areas, and the Committee saw the dedication with which they go about their work. While this Report will highlight the areas about which the Committee has concerns, as that is the purpose of oversight, it must not overshadow the tremendous efforts made by the Agencies’ staff, sometimes at great personal risk, to gain valuable secret intelligence for the UK. This intelligence safeguards national security, economic wellbeing and it helps prevent and detect serious organised crime. It significantly reduces the threat to the UK and its citizens. The National Intelligence Machinery 8. The National Intelligence Machinery is defined as the three intelligence and security Agencies (SIS, Security Service and GCHQ), the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) and the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) based in the Cabinet Office. The JIC is supported by the Joint Intelligence Organisation (JIO) which consists of the Assessments Staff, the Intelligence Co-ordinator’s group and a Secretariat. The three Agencies are funded by the 6 00585_pp05_18 7/6/02 11:38 am Page 7 Single Intelligence Account (SIA), while the DIS and JIO are funded by the MoD and Cabinet Office respectively.