Defence Council of the United Kingdom

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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.

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.

The Defence Council is chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence, who is a member of the Cabinet and is accountable to Parliament. The Defence Council is responsible for formulating policy, ensuring that the three services are run efficiently and in accordance with the wishes of the government of the day. In practice almost all the work of the Council is conducted by correspondence and it rarely meets.

There are three service boards chaired by the Secretary of State which report to the full Defence Council, namely the Admiralty Board, the Army Board and the Air Force Board.