Parent department Cabinet Office | ||
Jurisdiction Government of the United Kingdom Headquarters 70 Whitehall, London, England, United Kingdom Minister responsible Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office Organisation executive Charles Farr, Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee Website www.gov.uk/government/organisations/national-security/groups/joint-intelligence-organisation | ||
The Joint Intelligence Organisation is a British intelligence agency responsible for intelligence assessment and development of the UK intelligence community’s analytical capability. It is headed by Charles Farr, a Permanent Secretary-level civil servant.
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The organisation supports the work of the Joint Intelligence Committee (tasked with directing the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Security Service (MI5) and GCHQ) and National Security Council by providing intelligence assessments to Ministers and senior officials.
Intelligence Assessment
The primary function of the organisation is to provide assessments of situations and issues of current concern, warnings of threats to British interests and identifying and monitoring countries at risk of instability.
Consisting of intelligence analysts from a wide range of departments and disciplines, an assessments staff draws upon a range of intelligence, primarily from British intelligence agencies but also diplomatic reporting and open source material.
The Joint Intelligence Committee agrees most assessments before they are circulated to Ministers and senior officials.
Professional Head of Intelligence Analysis
The Head of the JIO is also the Professional Head of Intelligence Analysis, and advises on gaps and duplication in analyst training and on recruitment of analysts, career structures and interchange opportunities in order to improve the UK intelligence community’s analytical capability.
The Professional Head of Intelligence Analysis also carries out the development of analytical methodology and training for all UK intelligence community intelligence analysts.