§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Prime Minister if he will review the access that the Foreign Affairs Committee has to appropriate intelligence material and witnesses from the Secret Intelligence Service. [71827]
§ The Prime MinisterThe Foreign and Commonwealth Office gave the Foreign Affairs Committee unprecedented access to key official documents for the purpose of its inquiry on Sierra Leone. It is the Government's view that the Intelligence and Security Committee, set up by the previous Government under the Intelligence Services Act 1994, is the appropriate forum for Parliamentary oversight of the Intelligence Agencies. The Intelligence and Security Committee has been conducting its own inquiry into Sierra Leone. No previous Administration has ever agreed to witnesses from the Secret Intelligence Service appearing before Select Committees.