Governance

In a democratic society, it is vital that a security intelligence agency should be well regulated by law and subjected to rigorous oversight, with as much transparency as is possible to achieve without compromising our operations.

The Security Service operates within a well-defined framework of governance that meets these requirements. Our role and responsibilities are defined in law by the Security Service Act 1989 - see Statutory Basis for more details.

Our work is governed by a legal framework that regulates how the intelligence agencies may counter threats to national security, for instance setting rules for how covert human intelligence sources (agents) and eavesdropping may be used.

We are subject to an oversight regime that ensures that our activities are under the constant scrutiny of Ministers and Parliament. In addition, independent judicial figures carry out their own reviews of our work.