The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) is the committee of Parliament with statutory responsibility for oversight of the UK Intelligence Community.

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Authority

The Committee was established under the Intelligence Services Act 1994, but its powers were reinforced in the Justice and Security Act 2013.

Remit

Under the Justice and Security Act 2013 and the accompanying Memorandum of Understanding (which can be found at Annex A in the Committee’s Annual Report 2013-2014), the ISC oversees the policies, expenditure, administration and operations of MI5, MI6, GCHQ, Defence Intelligence, the National Cyber Force, the Joint Intelligence Organisation, the National Security Secretariat (NSS) and Homeland Security Group.

The Committee sets its own agenda and work programme, taking evidence from Ministers, the Heads of the intelligence and security Agencies, senior officials, experts, and academics as it considers necessary.

Membership

The Committee consists of nine Members, drawn from both Houses of Parliament and appointed by Parliament. The Chair of the Committee is elected by its Members. The Members are subject to Section 1(1)(b) of the Official Secrets Act 1989 and are routinely given access to highly classified material in carrying out their duties.

Current Inquiries

The Committee is currently conducting Inquiries into:

  • Cloud technologies; and
  • national security issues relating to Iran.


News

For earlier news items, please select ‘More News’ from the bottom of this page, or ‘News’ from the navigation bar.

17 July 2025

The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament has today provided the following Press Notice:

12:19, 17 July 2025

16 July 2025

ISC Response to comments made by the Rt Hon. Sir Ben Wallace KCB on the Radio 4 'Today' programme regarding the remit of the Committee:

Reference was made this morning to Defence Intelligence engaging with the Intelligence and Security Committee voluntarily. That is not the case. The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament is set up under statute: the Justice and Security Act 2013 gives it legal powers. Under the Justice and Security Act 2013, the Committee has statutory oversight of Defence Intelligence: there is nothing voluntary about it.

Reference was also made to the Committee not being able to look at any ongoing or current intelligence operation. That is also not the case. While the Committee may not have a right to require information on current operations (it can require information on all other matters concerning the organisations it oversees), it is still able to look at current operations - with the agreement of Ministers - and has done so on numerous occasions.

12:02, 16 July 2025

14 July 2025

The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament has today provided the following Press Notice, following its meeting with the Prime Minister:

15:29, 14 July 2025

More News