Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to improve parliamentary oversight of the Security Service.

Mr John Hayes

The Justice and Security Act 2013 has already significantly strengthened the Parliamentary oversight of the Security Service and the other intelligence agencies. The Act expanded the powers of the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) by enabling it to oversee operational activities of significant national interest retrospectively, and denying Agency heads the ability to withhold information from the Committee on the grounds of sensitivity. Significant additional resources have also been provided to the ISC.