50
A Democratic Licence to Operate
•
Foreign terror suspects realised that their communications potentially passed
through the US (even if the individuals themselves were not based there) and
learnt which CSPs were allowing the NSA to access these communications.13
The Security and Intelligence Agencies
3.15
The British government’s national security policies aim to protect UK and British
territories, nationals and property from a range of threats, including terrorism and
espionage; protect and promote the UK’s defence and foreign-policy interests; protect
and promote the UK’s economic well-being; and support the prevention and detection
of serious crime.14 The National Security Strategy sets out the whole-of-government
approach to national security, which notes that it is not just the responsibility of the
SIAs, but of all government departments and agencies: ‘We will use all the instruments of
national powers to prevent conflict and avert threats beyond our shores: our Embassies
and High Commissions worldwide, our international development programme, our
intelligence services, our defence diplomacy and our cultural assets’.15
3.16
The majority of intelligence – up to 95 per cent – gathered by the intelligence agencies
originates from open sources. Intelligence from secret sources is used to support
national-security aspects of government policy by providing information on relevant
activities and developments which are secret or undisclosed and which could not be
adequately monitored using regular or open sources. Because secret intelligence is
difficult and expensive to collect it therefore requires a high degree of prioritisation.16
The SIAs must ensure that their limited resources focus on what cannot be gathered
from open or normal diplomatic sources.17
Intelligence Tasking
3.17
The intelligence and security agencies do not set their own priorities. The National
Security Council (NSC) and the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) are responsible for
tasking the SIAs in accordance with agreed requirements and priorities, funding and
performance monitoring. And as with any public agency, the scope of the work of the
SIAs remains subject to financial constraints. The Single Intelligence Account (the budget
for the three agencies) is decided by ministers through the spending review process and
audited by the National Audit Office (NAO). The budget for 2014/15 was £1.9 billion,
with a real-terms increase to £2 billion in 2015/16.
13. John Sawers, Iain Lobban and Andrew Parker, uncorrected submission of evidence to the
ISC Privacy and Security Inquiry, Public Evidence Session, 7 November 2013.
14. See Part One in HM Government, A Strong Britain in an Age of Uncertainty: The National
Security Strategy (London: The Stationery Office, 2010).
15. Ibid.
16. ISR Panel visit to the FCO, March 2015.
17. ISR Panel visit to the FCO, March 2015, and SIS, May 2015.