Committee overview | |
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Formed | 1936 |
Committee executive |
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Parent department | Cabinet Office |
Website | www |
The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) is the part of the British Cabinet Office responsible for:
It is claimed that it oversees the setting of priorities for the three intelligence and security agencies (Secret Intelligence Service, Security Service, GCHQ), as well as Defence Intelligence, and establishes professional standards for intelligence analysis in government.
The Committee is chaired by a permanent chairman, a member of the Senior Civil Service, and is supported by the Joint Intelligence Organisation which includes an assessments staff. The assessment staff is made up of experienced senior analysts drawn from across government and the military and conducts all-source analysis on subjects of interest to the committee. JIC papers draw input from across the intelligence and security agencies and other related bodies. Membership comprises senior officials in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence (including the Chief of Defence Intelligence), Home Office, Department of Trade and Industry, Department for International Development, Treasury and Cabinet Office, the Heads of the three intelligence Agencies and the Chief of the Assessments Staff and other departments, and the Prime Minister's adviser on foreign affairs.
The JIC is subject to oversight by the Intelligence and Security Committee. It is supported by the Joint Intelligence Organisation.
The JIC has three functions:
The JIC drafts the annual Requirements and Priorities for collection and analysis, for approval by Ministers. These support the strategic national security objectives of the UK:
The JIC was founded on 7 July 1936 as a sub-committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence, the advisory peacetime defence planning agency. During World War II, it became the senior intelligence assessment body in the UK. In 1957 the JIC moved to the Cabinet Office, where its assessments staff prepare draft intelligence assessments for the committee to consider.