Robert Hannigan will take charge of intelligence and resilience and act as the Prime Minister’s Security Adviser when he starts the job this autumn.
Hannigan is currently the Director General at the Northern Ireland Office, which was set up in the seventies to secure lasting peace in the region.
Sir Gus announced the appointment following Gordon Brown’s statement on Wednesday which set out plans to strengthen homeland security.
Sir Richard Mottram, the current Permanent Secretary for Security, Intelligence and Resilience, said he will be retiring from the Civil Service.
A separate Head of Intelligence Assessment and Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee is also expected to be announced.
The Prime Minister told Parliament:
“In line with the Butler Report we will separate the position of Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee from policy adviser to the government. And so the sole responsibilities of the Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee will be to provide Ministers with assessments which have been formulated independently of the political process and to improve across government the effectiveness of intelligence analysis.”
Sir Gus said that the new appointments met the remit given to him by the Prime Minister to make sure security and intelligence analysis is kept independent of the political process.
He said: “Robert Hannigan is an exceptional civil servant who has played an important role in recent developments in Northern Ireland. I very much look forward to working with him.”
Hannigan was the Prime Minister’s principal adviser on the Northern Ireland peace process, including negotiations with political parties and the Irish Government.
