104.
Thirdly, the ISC suffers from significant under-resourcing. On this point,
the CoE HR Commissioner has remarked that he “was struck by the fact
that this important Committee only has six permanent staff members” and
“call[ed] for adequate financial and human resources to be given to the
ISC.”57
105.
Finally, the ISC has historically devoted little attention to scrutinising the
Government’s interception programmes and none to its intelligence
sharing activities. For example, the 2012/13 Annual Report made no
reference to the interception of communications.58 The 2011/2012 Annual
Report contained passing reference to interception in a section explaining
why it may be necessary to grant the police and intelligence services
greater access to communications data.59 The 2010/2011 Annual Report
again made only passing reference to interception in the context of a twopage section summarising the role of the IPT and the Commissioners.
Despite the fact that the IPT had been in existence since RIPA was
enacted a decade earlier, the report noted that a meeting between the ISC
and IPT “was the first time that the Committee had an opportunity to hear
about the work of the I[PT]”.60 Finally, the 2009/2010 Annual Report
devoted just three short paragraphs to interception in the context of
considering whether intercept material should be admissible as evidence
in UK legal proceedings (which it is not).61
two grounds: that it is sensitive and should not be disclosed to the ISC in the interests of national
security; or that it is information of such a nature that, if the Secretary of State were requested to
produce it before a Departmental Select Committee of the House of Commons, the Secretary of
State would consider (on grounds not limited to national security) it proper not to do so.” Reply
Annex No. 25.
57 Memorandum on Surveillance, para 9. Reply Annex No.28.
58 INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT, ANNUAL REPORT, 2012-13, HC 547
(UK). Reply Annex No.12.
59 INTELLIGENCE AND S ECURITY COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT, ANNUAL R EPORT, 2011-12, Cm 8403,
paras. 113-121 (UK). Reply Annex No. 10.
60 INTELLIGENCE AND S ECURITY COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT, ANNUAL R EPORT, 2010-11, Cm 8114,
para 282 (UK). Reply Annex No. 9.
61 INTELLIGENCE AND S ECURITY COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT, ANNUAL R EPORT, 2009-10, Cm 7844,
paras 58-60 (UK). Reply Annex No. 8.
44