Memorandum from the Cabinet Office (TS
33)
Thank you for your letter of 13 December 2005
regarding the Cabinet Office's role in countering terrorism.
Three Secretariats of the Cabinet Office have
a role in the Government's counter-terrorism strategy—the
Intelligence and Security Secretariat, the Defence and Overseas
Secretariat and the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS). Secretariats
work directly to the Cabinet Secretary and Prime Minister, supporting
the collective decision making process. In this instance, these
secretariats provide or support cross-departmental structures
and processes through which departments and other agencies deliver
counter-terrorism activity. The Cabinet Office supports rather
than leads, and the Home Secretary retains overall ministerial
accountability.
I recognise that the Committee will want to
understand how these coordination arrangements operate. So information
on the Cabinet Committee structures which coordinate the cross
Government Counter terrorist strategy will be provided by the
Department for Transport in their response to the Transport Committee's
preliminary report on Transport Security.
Within this framework, the Minister for the
Cabinet Office generally has a limited direct responsibility in
relation to counter-terrorism work. The only significant exception
to this is the Cabinet Office's responsibility for certain programme
delivery and expenditure carried out by CCS—part of the
`Prepare' strand of the Government's counter-terrorism strategy.
This activity is made up of implementation of the Civil Contingencies
Act, funding for local authority emergency preparedness work,
and ownership of local civil protection doctrine. These activities
form part of the Government's overall commitment to ensuring that
the UK is prepared for, and responds well to, emergencies of all
kinds however caused.
I hope this is helpful clarification of the
Cabinet Office's limited role in relation to transport security,
supplementing the fuller reply which you will receive from Department
for Transport. Please contact me if you would find any further
information about our role helpful.
January 2006
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