A new joint unit for international counter-terrorism strategy, reporting to both the home and foreign secretaries, is to be established in the Home Office.
The unit will have around 50 staff, and will be jointly funded by the FCO and Home Office. It will be led by an FCO official, Jane Marriott. The new unit will be created from the FCO's existing counter-terrorism unit, with a number of staff expected to transfer into the new unit.
A government spokesperson said: “The unit will bring together expertise from within the Home Office and Foreign Office to tackle international counter terrorism in a co-ordinated and effective manner.”
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Last year's Strategic Defence and Security Review said government would create a number of “issue-focused cross-government teams to remove duplication, consolidate national security expertise and make the most efficient use of it across government".
Other units due to established include a Euro-Atlantic Security Policy Unit, hosted by the FCO, and an Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation Centre, hosted by the Ministry of Defence. Seven units were announced in all, which are all on track to be established this year and will be made up of existing civil servants.