National Security Adviser (United Kingdom) Explained

Post:National Security Adviser
Insignia:Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government) (2022).svg
Insigniacaption:Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent:Sir Tim Barrow
Incumbentsince:14 September 2022
Department:National Security Secretariat
Cabinet Office
Nominator:Prime Minister
Appointer:The King
Termlength:At His Majesty's pleasure
Reports To:Prime Minister
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Formation:2010
Deputy:Deputy National Security Adviser (DNSA)
Acting:no
Style:His Excellency

The National Security Adviser (NSA) is a senior official in the Cabinet Office, based in Whitehall, who serves as the principal adviser to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Cabinet of the United Kingdom on all national security issues. The NSA post was created in May 2010 as part of the reforms that also saw the creation of the National Security Council.[1] There have been six holders of the office to date, of whom two served more than three years in the post.[2]

The NSA is Secretary to the National Security Council, which is chaired by the Prime Minister, and head of National Security and Intelligence (National Security Secretariat), which is, in turn, part of the Cabinet Office.[3] The NSA will also advise Secretaries of State and other senior government ministers on issues of national security when necessary. The NSA was the Senior Responsible Officer for the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, with a budget of over £1 billion.[4] This role has been passed to the Deputy National Security Adviser.[5]

The first National Security Adviser (NSA) of the United Kingdom was Sir Peter Ricketts,[6] who was previously Permanent Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee. Ricketts was succeeded by Sir Kim Darroch in January 2012. On 7 July 2015, it was announced that Sir Mark Lyall Grant would replace Darroch as National Security Adviser in early September 2015.[7]

It was announced in June 2020 that Mark Sedwill will step down from his role as NSA in September, and that current chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, will serve as the NSA.[8] A FOI answer however, states that Frost continues as Chief Negotiator to the EU as of October 2020 and David Quarrey took over the role of acting NSA provisionally.[9]

The NSA is supported by at least two Deputy National Security Advisers, and serves at the pleasure of the Prime Minister. [10] [11]

Responsibilities

The National Security Adviser is the principal official adviser to the Prime Minister and Cabinet on national security matters. The responsibilities include:[12]

List of National Security Advisers

!#!Name!Term start!Term end!Term length!Prime Minister(s) served!Party!Ref
112 May 201023 January 2012David CameronConservative
223 January 20127 September 2015
3Sir Mark Lyall Grant7 September 201513 April 2017
Theresa May
413 April 201716 September 2020
Boris Johnson[13]
–David Quarrey (acting)17 September 202025 March 2021[14]
5Sir Stephen Lovegrove24 March 202113 September 2022[15]
6Sir Tim Barrow14 September 2022IncumbentLiz Truss[16]
Rishi Sunak
Keir StarmerLabour

List of Deputy National Security Advisers

There can be more than one DNSA at one time; some DNSA's are given specific titles referring to their specific remit.

  1. Julian Miller (2010–2015)
  2. Olly Robbins (2010–2014)
  3. Hugh Powell (2013–2016)
  4. Paddy McGuinness (2014–2018)
  5. Gwyn Jenkins (2015–2017)
  6. Christian Turner (2017–2019)
  7. Richard Moore (2018)
  8. Madeleine Alessandri (2018–2020)
  9. David Quarrey (2019–2022)
  10. Beth Sizeland (2020–2021)
  11. Alex Ellis (2020–2021)
  12. Andrew McCosh (2021–present) (Technology)
  13. Sarah MacIntosh (2022–present) (International Affairs)
  14. Matt Collins (2022–present) (Intelligence, Defence and Security)

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The National Security Council: national security at the centre of government . Joe Devanny and Josh Harris . Institute for Government/King's College London . 4 November 2014.
  2. Web site: Why the UK needs a better process for appointing national security advisers . Joe Devanny . Civil Service World . 3 March 2017.
  3. Web site: About - National security and intelligence . GOV.UK . 2016-10-20.
  4. Conflict, Stability and Security Fund: Annual Report 2016/17 . gov.uk . July 2017 . 7 November 2017.
  5. Conflict, Stability and Security Fund: Annual Report 2017/18 . gov.uk . 18 July 2018 . 5 September 2019.
  6. Web site: Cabinet Office Structure Charts, page 12 . Cabinet Office HM Government . May 2010 . 6 July 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100705004000/http://download.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/organogram/co-organogram.pdf . July 5, 2010 .
  7. Web site: National Security Adviser appointment: Sir Mark Lyall-Grant . Cabinet Office HM Government . July 2015 . 9 July 2015 .
  8. News: 2020-06-28. UK's top civil servant announces exit. en-GB. BBC News. 2020-06-28.
  9. Web site: Deputy National Security Advisers . . 23 October 2020 . whatdotheyknow.com . Whatdotheyknow . 24 October 2020 . David Frost remains Chief Negotiator for the EU talks and those negotiations will remain his top single priority until they have concluded, one way or another. Therefore, the Prime Minister agreed that David Quarrey should become Acting NSA.
  10. Web site: David Quarrey . . 11 December 2019 . gov.uk . gov.uk . 11 December 2019 . Prime Minister’s International Affairs Adviser and Deputy National Security Adviser David Quarrey CMG.
  11. Web site: Sir Mark Sedwill: UK's top civil servant steps down . 28 June 2020 . bbc.co.uk . 28 June 2020.
  12. Web site: Sir Tim Barrow GCMG LVO MBE . 2023-06-25 . GOV.UK . en. Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
  13. Web site: Mark Sedwill appointed as National Security Adviser. 27 February 2017. Home Office. 16 September 2022.
  14. Web site: Appointment of Prime Minister's National Security Adviser. 28 June 2020. Cabinet Office. 2 February 2021.
  15. Web site: Appointment of Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence. 6 April 2021. gov.uk.
  16. Web site: Sir Tim Barrow appointed as National Security Adviser. 16 September 2022. gov.uk.

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