Intelligence and Security Committee

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon Excerpts

Tuesday 4th March 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, I of course have to agree with that.

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Lab)]

My Lords, I have to preface my remarks by saying that I speak as a member of a party that values marriage but also values all stable relationships.

Sir David Omand, the former director of GCHQ, has said that,

“staff in the intelligence agencies would welcome deeper but more informed oversight, not least to protect their reputation”.

Notwithstanding the new Act, it is clear that in this digital age the pace of technological change is so rapid that I am sure the noble Lord would agree that the ISC should be strengthened further in terms of digital and technological expertise. What plans might there be for those to be strengthened in the current circumstances?

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

There is the question of the size, scale and expertise of the staff of the committee. The 2011 Green Paper raised the question of whether the current two commissioners, the Intelligence Services Commissioner and the Interception of Communications Commissioner, might be combined into one and given rather greater authority. What we are discovering about the speed of change with the internet—not just the hoovering up of information on the internet by government agencies but the whole question of the hoovering up of our personal information by private agencies—is an issue that we all clearly need to discuss further. The Government have been developing a draft communications data Bill on which we will all have to consider how we move forward, probably in the first Session of the next Parliament.