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The 'Defence Council of the United Kingdom' is the body legally entrusted with the defence of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories and with control over the British armed forces, and is part of the Ministry of Defence.

Contents

Functions

Membership

Ministers

Officials

Sources

Functions

Prior to 1964, there were five bodies responsible for the armed forces: the Admiralty, the War Office, the Air Ministry, the Ministry of Aviation, and a smaller Ministry of Defence. By Orders-in-Council issued under the Defence (Transfer of Functions) Act 1964, the functions of these bodies were transferred to the Defence Council and the Secretary of State for Defence, who heads a larger Ministry of Defence.
The Secretary of State for Defence, who is a member of the Cabinet, chairs the Defence Council, and is accountable to the Queen and to Parliament for its business. The letters patent constituting the Defence Council vest it with the power of command over Her Majesty's Forces and give it responsibility for their administration, or in the words of the letters patent:
:"''...to administer such matters pertaining to Our Naval Military and Air Forces as We through Our Principal Secretary of State for Defence direct them to execute And to have command under Us of all Officers Ratings Soldiers and Airmen of Our Naval Military and Air Forces...''".
In practice, the Defence Council is a formal body, and almost all its work is conducted by or on behalf of the three service boards chaired by the Secretary of State which report to the Defence Council, namely the Admiralty Board, the Army Board and the Air Force Board.

Membership

The members of the Defence Council are:

Ministers

★ Secretary of State for Defence

★ Minister for the Armed Forces

★ Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

★ Minister for Veterans and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Officials

★ Chief of the Defence Staff

★ Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff

★ Chief of the Naval Staff and First Sea Lord

★ Chief of the General Staff

★ Chief of the Air Staff

★ Chief of Defence Materiel

★ MoD Chief Scientific Adviser

★ Permanent Under-Secretary of State

★ Second Permanent Under Secretary of State

Sources

★ Ministry of Defence news item on new letters patent issued to the Defence Council