National Security Adviser
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent
Sir Tim Barrow
since 14 September 2022
National Security Secretariat
Cabinet Office
Reports toPrime Minister
Secretary of State for Defence
NominatorPrime Minister
AppointerThe King
(on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term lengthAt His Majesty's pleasure
Formation2010
First holderLord Ricketts
DeputyDeputy National Security Adviser (DNSA)

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]

  • Providing advice to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on national security. This includes strategy, policy, capability and civil contingencies.
  • Acting as Secretary to the National Security Council.
  • Leadership to and management of the national security teams in the Cabinet Office.
  • Bringing together the wider national security community across Whitehall and our overseas network.
  • Cultivating and maintaining a network of international stakeholders as well as contacts with relevant counterparts, businesses, industry and civil society groups.

List of National Security Advisers

# Name Term start Term end Term length Prime Minister(s) served Ref
1 Peter Ricketts (Lord Ricketts) 12 May 2010 23 January 2012 1 year and 257 days David Cameron
2 Kim Darroch (Lord Darroch) 23 January 2012 7 September 2015 3 years and 228 days
3 Sir Mark Lyall Grant 7 September 2015 13 April 2017 1 year and 219 days
Theresa May [7]
4 Mark Sedwill (Lord Sedwill) 13 April 2017 16 September 2020 3 years and 157 days
Boris Johnson [13]
– David Quarrey (acting) 17 September 2020 25 March 2021 190 days [14]
5 Sir Stephen Lovegrove 24 March 2021 13 September 2022 1 year and 174 days [15]
6 Sir Tim Barrow 14 September 2022 Incumbent 1 year and 106 days Liz Truss [16]
Rishi Sunak

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)

References

  1. ↑ Joe Devanny and Josh Harris (4 November 2014). "The National Security Council: national security at the centre of government". Institute for Government/King's College London.
  2. ↑ Joe Devanny (3 March 2017). "Why the UK needs a better process for appointing national security advisers". Civil Service World.
  3. ↑ "About - National security and intelligence". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  4. ↑ Conflict, Stability and Security Fund: Annual Report 2016/17 (PDF) (Report). gov.uk. July 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  5. ↑ Conflict, Stability and Security Fund: Annual Report 2017/18 (PDF) (Report). gov.uk. 18 July 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  6. ↑ "Cabinet Office Structure Charts, page 12" (PDF). Cabinet Office HM Government. May 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  7. 1 2 "National Security Adviser appointment: Sir Mark Lyall-Grant". Cabinet Office HM Government. July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  8. ↑ "UK's top civil servant announces exit". BBC News. 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  9. ↑ "Deputy National Security Advisers" (PDF). whatdotheyknow.com. Whatdotheyknow. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 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. ↑ "David Quarrey". gov.uk. gov.uk. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019. Prime Minister's International Affairs Adviser and Deputy National Security Adviser David Quarrey CMG
  11. ↑ "Sir Mark Sedwill: UK's top civil servant steps down" (PDF). bbc.co.uk. 28 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  12. ↑ "Sir Tim Barrow GCMG LVO MBE". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2023-06-25. Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
  13. ↑ "Mark Sedwill appointed as National Security Adviser". Home Office. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  14. ↑ "Appointment of Prime Minister's National Security Adviser". Cabinet Office. 28 June 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  15. ↑ "Appointment of Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence". gov.uk. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  16. ↑ "Sir Tim Barrow appointed as National Security Adviser". gov.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
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