• Military
• WMD

• Intelligence Menu               

• Systems
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Imagery
• Links

• Homeland Security
• Space

Secret Intelligence Service MI6

The Secret Intelligence Service, sometimes known as MI6, originated in 1909 as the Foreign Section of the Secret Service Bureau, under RNR Commander, later Captain, Sir Mansfield Cumming, which was responsible for gathering intelligence overseas. By 1922 Cumming's section had become a separate Service with the title SIS. Cumming signed himself 'C'; his successors have done so ever since.

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was established in 1940, partly from the then Section D of SIS. After the War it was disbanded and some of its members were reabsorbed into SIS.

With the passing of the Intelligence Services Act, SIS was placed on a statutory footing under the Foreign & Commonwealth Secretary to whom it is responsible for all aspects of its work. The Act defines the functions of the Service and the responsibilities of its Chief, as well as establishing control and oversight arrangements. The Service's principal role is the production of secret intelligence in support of Her Majesty's Government's security, defence, foreign and economic policies within the framework of requirements laid upon it by the JIC and approved by Ministers. It meets these JIC requirements for intelligence gathering and other tasks through a variety of sources, human and technical, and by liaison with a wide range of foreign intelligence and security services. Specific operations are subject to longstanding procedures for official and ministerial clearance.

Sir David Spedding was Chief of the SIS from September 1994 to 1999 and, as a Middle East terrorism expert, was the first director of MI6 not to be a Soviet Specialist. Sir Richard B. Dearlove KCMG, OBE, replacing Spedding, took up the appointment of chief of MI6 on 1 September 1999.

SIS is based at 85 Albert Embankment, Vauxhall Cross in London. MI6 is also paying for a number of telephones located in a busy street in south London which has been identified as the spy training centre. What is thought to have been MI6's former City of London office is located in an office block in the Square Mile.

The Service employed 2,300 staff as of March 1994, with a reported annual budget of some £150M, though these numbers have declined somewhat in recent years.