Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

I thank hon. Members for their comments. I shall first set out the scope of the amendment and then address their questions. Clause 1 sets out the scope of the provisions relating to the civil service and specifies the parts of it to which they will not apply, such as the Northern Ireland civil service, the Northern Ireland Court Service, the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service and GCHQ. The Bill also makes it clear that staff employed overseas, known as locally engaged staff, are not covered by its provisions. The amendment tabled by the hon. Member for Cambridge (David Howarth) would bring GCHQ within the scope of the Bill. I can reassure hon. Members that staff who work at GCHQ are civil servants, and I understand that Members wish to explore the Government's reasons why those civil servants are not to be treated in the same way as those who are covered by the provisions in question. Hon. Members mentioned that GCHQ staff were included in the 2004 Bill. Recent world events have, of necessity, driven the three UK agencies in question—GCHQ, the SIS and the Security Service—to work together more closely and in a more dynamic and joined-up way. They share intelligence and resources to meet ever-changing priorities in their operational work. By responding to threats and attacks as a joined-up community, they can act more effectively and efficiently. GCHQ works closely with the other agencies, and all three already operate under statutory provisions that cover their activities and conduct, in the Security Service Act 1989, the Intelligence Services Act 1994 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. It therefore makes sense for all three to operate on a similar footing, and the Joint Committee on the Bill endorsed that approach. The three agencies also have robust and independent staff complaints procedures, and the funding for them is grouped together. The Select Committee on Public Administration commented that""unlike most of the rest of the civil service, GCHQ and the other Agencies are already established in statute, and…they have to operate under particular conditions that do not apply to most of the rest of the civil service. The legislation covering the Agencies sets out to ensure that their activities remain within set purposes, and it establishes complaints mechanisms for the public if they are concerned about these activities."" It went on to suggest that the Joint Committee may wish to explore the issues of staff raising complaints and whether staff should continue to be recruited on merit in future. Hon. Members have mentioned the need to treat GCHQ staff in the same way as those at the security and intelligence services. The Joint Committee agreed with that but asked for assurances that GCHQ staff would be given the same right of access to an independent complaints mechanisms as those at the other agencies and that, as a general rule, staff at GCHQ would be recruited on merit. In the Government's response, we gave both those assurances.