Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill on the functions of the intelligence and security services.

The Government has worked closely with the UK Intelligence Community and with the Intelligence and Security Committee to assess the impact of any measures on the functions of the intelligence and security services.

The Bill includes measures designed to ensure that sensitive information is handled securely and can be protected from inappropriate disclosure. This includes information related to the functions of the intelligence and security services.

As for all public authorities, there will be some limited costs for the intelligence and security services in preparing for the application of the duty and in adapting existing practice to meet its requirements. The Bill’s impact assessment sets out that the extent of ‘new’ costs in the support of these investigative processes is likely to be low.

The Government will continue to review the impact assessment of the Bill as the Bill is amended.