Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that National Security Council country strategies are informed by critical analysis and by in-country stakeholders.

The National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review set out the long term direction to meet the strategic objectives of ensuring domestic security and resilience, and shaping a stable world. The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, comprising members of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, scrutinises the National Security Strategy and the structures for government decision-making on national security, particularly the National Security Council (NSC) and the National Security Adviser.

The NSC brings together departments, including DFID, to take collective decisions, balancing the mutually–reinforcing elements of national security including domestic, foreign, development, defence and economic policy. The NSC has introduced, from April 20145, the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund and associated governance reforms. Together these looking systematically at deployed overseas dealing with the risk of instability. links NSC strategic decision making with programmes on the ground.