Intelligence and Security Committee Annual Report 1999-2000

Introduction

1. This Annual Report covers the Intelligence and Security Committee's fifth year of operation. 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 Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the Security Service. Committee members are notified under the Official Secrets Act 1989 and operate within the 'ring of secrecy'. We report directly to you on our work, and through you to Parliament. In the past year the Committee's membership changed when Ms Yvette Cooper MP left the Committee to join the Government. You appointed Ms Rosie Winterton MP to replace her.

2. In preparation for this Annual Report we have taken evidence from 51 witnesses. A full list is at Appendix 1 and includes:

- the Heads of SIS, GCHQ and the Security Service, and a number of their staff;

- the Home and Foreign Secretaries; and

- officials from the Cabinet Office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office and the National Audit Office.

3. In addition to our work on the Annual Report, you and the Home Secretary asked us on 13 September 1999 to carry out an inquiry into the Security and Intelligence Agencies' handling of the material provided by Mr Mitrokhin. We requested and received a great deal of material from both this and the previous administration, including advice to Ministers, and took evidence from a number of witnesses. We reported to you on 20 April 2000, and the Report1 and the Government's Response2 were both published on 13 June 2000.

4. The Chief of Defence Intelligence gave evidence to the Committee and we had several informal sessions with the three Agencies at their headquarters. We conducted full Committee visits to the Composite Signals Organisation Scarborough, RAF Menwith Hill and ***

as part of our work and we also visited HM Customs and Excise in London and Dover. We conducted sub-group visits to the SIS and Security Service.

5. As part of the Committee's work on parliamentary oversight of intelligence matters we visited Romania, Poland and the USA. We also hosted visits to the UK from the oversight organisations in Slovakia, Norway, Croatia and Poland.

1. Cm 4764, June 2000.

2. Cm 4765, June 2000.

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Prepared 2 November 2000