Defence Council of Gallambria

The Defence Council of Gallambria is the body legally entrusted with the defence of Gallambria and its overseas territories and with control of the Gallambrian Armed Forces, and is part of the Ministry of Defence.

Functions

Prior to 1949, there were five bodies responsible for the armed forces: the Admiralty, the War Office, the Air Ministry, the Ministry of Aviation, and the Ministry of Defence. By Orders-in-Council under the Defence 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 Cabinet, chairs the Defence Council, and is accountable to the King and to Parliament for its business. The letters patent constitution the Defence Council vest it with the power of command over His Majesty's Armed 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 the Defence Board (see below). In addition, the three Service boards (the Admiralty Board, the Army Board, and the Air Force Board), which are sub-committee of the Defence Council meet annually for each service chief to report to the Secretary of State on the health of their respective services.

Membership

Members	Title	Name
Political	Secretary of State for Defence	The Rt. Hon. Charlotte O'Neill MP
	Minister of State for the Armed Forces	John Deveroux MP
	Minister of State for Defence Industry	Stuart Abrahams MP
	Minister of State for Defence Personnel	Sebastian Fimone CSC, MP
	Minister of State for Veterans Affairs	Lauren Cambridge MP
	Lords Spokesperson for Defence	The Rt. Hon. Lord Blevins PC
Public Service	Permanent Secretary	Vacant
	Director-General, Finance	Vacant
Armed Forces	The Chief of the Defence Staff	Gen. Sir Anthony Holmes KCStG KCG LGO DSO CSC
	The Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff	Gen. Allan Stretton CStG CG CSC MC AdC RGM
	The First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff	Adm. Sir Matthew Higgins KCStG DSC AdC
	The Chief of the General Staff	Gen. Sir Ewan Griffiths KCStG CG CSC MC AdC
	The Chief of the Air Staff	ACM Sir Peter Winstanley KCStG CG AFC AdC
	Commander Joint Operations Command	Gen. Sir Jonathon Doyle Burns KCStG CG MC KSM

Defence Board

The Defence Board is described as the highest committee of the Ministry of Defence, responsible for the full range of defence business other than the conduct of operations. It meets every month and provides strategic direction and oversight of Defence matters.

Members	Title	Name
Political	Secretary of State for Defence	The Rt. Hon. Charlotte O'Neill MP
	Minister of State for the Armed Forces	John Deveroux MP
	Minister of State for Defence Industry	Stuart Abrahams MP
Public Service	Permanent Secretary	Dr. Ian Joyce GPSM, PhD
	Director-General, Finance	Jennifer Iverson GPSM
Armed Forces	The Chief of the Defence Staff	ACM Sir Errol McCormack KCStG KCEO CG AFC ADC
	The Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff	ACM Sir Harry Beresford KCStG CG CSC ADC
Non-Executive Board Members	Lead Non-Executive Board Member	Sir Henry Black KCTM KPSM
	Chairperson, Defence Audit Committee	George Cartwright CG KPSM
	Chairperson, Defence Equipment & Support Committee	Penelope Drayton KPSM
	Chairperson, Defence People Committee	Jacqueline Maysfield KPSM