About us

The National Security Secretariat coordinates security and intelligence issues of strategic importance across government and supports the National Security Adviser and National Security Council. The Joint Intelligence Organisation produces independent all-source assessments on issues of national security and foreign policy and supports the Joint Intelligence Committee.

Responsibilities

The National Security Secretariat (NSS) is led by the Executive Deputy National Security Adviser. It works to keep the UK safe, secure and prosperous by coordinating the UK’s national security community, supporting the Prime Minister and the National Security Adviser. This includes:

  • supporting the National Security Council, including the relevant collective-agreement process; 
  • overseeing the delivery of the National Security Strategy 2025; 
  • coordinating key national security and foreign policy matters across government; 
  • ensuring preparedness and crisis response through COBR. 

The Joint Intelligence Organisation is responsible for:

  • providing all-source intelligence assessments for the Prime Minister, the National Security Council and policy makers across government which assess threats to the UK and UK interests overseas;
  • giving early warning of the development of direct and indirect threats and opportunities in those fields to British interests or policies and to the international community as a whole;
  • maintaining oversight of the assessment of intelligence across government, encouraging professional standards and best practice to improve the government’s analytical capability as a whole.

Who we are

The National Security Secretariat is headed by Matthew Collins, the Executive Deputy National Security Adviser. The current National Security Adviser is Jonathan Powell and is the principal adviser to the Prime Minister and Cabinet on national security matters.

The Joint Intelligence Organisation is headed by Madeleine Alessandri, Chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee and Professional Head of Intelligence Analysis.

Both the National Security Secretariat and the Joint Intelligence Organisation are based in London.

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