Joint Intelligence Committee

The JIC sits within the Cabinet Office and is supported by the Joint Intelligence Organisation (JIO). It is responsible for assessments and intelligence briefings that look at both tactical and strategic issues of importance to national interests, primarily in the fields of security, defence and foreign affairs. The JIC chair is specifically charged with ensuring that the committee monitors and gives early warning of the development of direct and indirect threats in those fields. They also provide government ministers and senior officials with assessments that appear to require operational, planning or policy action. GCHQ intelligence contributes to these briefings and assessments.

The JIC's permanent members are senior officials from Cabinet Office, including the JIC Chair, the Chief of the Assessments Staff and the National Security Advisor, as well as officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office, the Department for International Development, HM Treasury and the heads of GCHQ, SIS and MI5. Other departments attend as necessary.