Intelligence and Security Committee

Abbreviation	ISC
Formation	1994
Purpose	Committee of Parliament responsible for oversight of intelligence agencies and activities
Chairman	The Rt Hon. Dominic Grieve QC MP
Parent organisation	UK Parliament
Website	isc.independent.gov.uk
Formerly called	Intelligence and Security Committee

The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament is a committee of Parliament of the United Kingdom appointed to oversee the work of the intelligence machinery of the United Kingdom.

The committee's formal responsibilities are to examine the expenditure, administration and policies of the security and intelligence agencies as laid down in statute; the Secret Intelligence Service, the Security Service and Government Communications Headquarters. It has however extended its oversight responsibilities to include the Defence Intelligence Staff and the Joint Intelligence Committee.

The members of the committee are notified under the Official Secrets Act 1989 and are given access to highly classified material in carrying out their duties. The committee holds evidence sessions with Government ministers and senior officials (for example, the head of the Security Service). It also considers written evidence from the intelligence and security agencies and relevant government departments.

The work of the committee is invariably conducted in secret, though an unclassified annual report is issued. The committee also produces reports on issues of particular concern, either on its own initiative or at the request of government ministers.

A special report was published by the ISC following its inquiry into privacy, security and the legislative framework. The committee called for public submissions and held public evidence sessions on the privacy and civil liberties considerations of intelligence agencies’ powers and activities to intercept private communications.

The report found that although GCHQ collects and analyses data in bulk, it does not conduct mass surveillance. The report said the legal framework should be simplified to improve transparency and identified past oversight omissions including unregulated databases and use of the Telecommunications Act 1984.