Recommendation 7

The Government should clarify: • How the NSC and the new National Security Ministers group relate to one another in practice—in terms of their agendas, any division of responsibility between strategy-making and operational decision-making and implementation, or whether the NSM has delegated authority for decision-making in the Prime Minister’s absence; • What status NSM decisions will carry in law, in the event of a judicial review; and • Who will chair the NSM on cross-cutting issues, such as Afghanistan, that require the orchestration of diplomatic, development, military and security instruments. The Government should also explain why it has decided not to designate a permanent Chair of the NSM. This would have positive implications for the consistency of decision- making on national security and their implementation, even though we recognise it may also have awkward political implications for the Prime Minister.