Next National Security Strategy must provide a truly strategic framework
3 March 2015
The next National Security Strategy (NSS) must engage with changing threats and prepare for the challenges of the next five years, says Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP, Chair of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (JCNSS).
- Report: The next National Security Strategy
- Report: The next National Security Strategy (PDF 696 KB)
- Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy
The JCNSS publishes its report looking at the next National Security Strategy which is expected to be published after the General Election.
Strategic thinking
In its report the Committee said that the next NSS should look hard at the UK’s place within the international order, and what strategic thinking should underpin its actions over the next five years. It also needs to influence the Comprehensive Spending Review, to ensure that the Government can make fully-informed decisions on security-related spending.
The next NSS should set clear objectives for the UK’s future place in the world and geopolitical priorities, and inform the Strategic Defence and Security Review’s assessment of the means required to achieve them.
"Thorough revisit"
The Committee is keen to see a "thorough revisit" of the NSS, and expressed regret at "the lack of engagement from the Government on occasion, and … frustration at the lack of preparation and consultation for the next NSS".
The Committee has asked the Government to prepare a confidential annex to the NSS which can be used in Government departments to set planning assumptions for a range of scenarios. It also presses the National Security Council to meet more regularly, and to ensure that it is taking a strategic as well as reactive role.
Chair's comments
The Chair of the Committee, Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP said:
"We are very keen to see the next NSS acting as a truly useful document for cross-Government security planning, particularly as a tool to allow for flexible policy, taking into account potential developments in domestic and international affairs.
We have urged the Government to engage with a range of people – experts, the public and our Committee – when preparing the NSS, and also to take an active role in public engagement, to ensure that the British public understand the thinking behind our national security strategy."