JCNSS launches national security machinery inquiry

January 5, 2021

FEATURED

It has recently been announced that The Joint Committee on National Security Strategy (JCNSS) has begun an inquiry that will assess how well national security machinery operates; the inquiry has been launched after national security structure concerns were raised in a recent JCNSS report.

JCNSS inquiry

The JCNSS’s inquiry will examine how well the National Security Council (NSC) and Cabinet Office ensures plans are resourced and exercised. This component will also draw attention to how the NSC maintains its centrality in the policy-making process, sets ministerial direction and oversees implementation of national security decisions.

In addition to this, the inquiry will assess the appropriate role and remit of the National Security Adviser (NSA) – including the NSA’s required interaction with the NSC, COBR and ministers – the interaction of the NSC and COBR systems, and the role of key Government departments and agencies in national security policy-making.

The inquiry will also focus on how data is collected, analysed and used across national security departments; the mechanism for the NSC collecting evidence to aid its decision-making; the coherence of the NSC committee structures as reshaped in Parliament; funding and resource links to national security decisions; the embedding of the ‘Fusion Doctrine’.

The JCNSS is intending to also examine the involvement of the NSC and NSA in shaping the Government’s upcoming Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development & Foreign Policy – the machinery of national security is being examined in the Government’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development & Foreign Policy.

To find out more information, visit: https://committees.parliament.uk

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