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The most senior civil servant in the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) has been appointed as the next chair of the UK's spy oversight committee.

Madeleine Alessandri will advise the prime minister as the new chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC).

The JIC provides ministers and government officials with intelligence assessments on UK national security, defence and foreign affairs.

Ms Alessandri, who has been at the NIO since 2020, takes up her post in July.

As well as chairing the JIC, she will also become head of the Joint Intelligence Organisation (JIO).

"It is a huge privilege to be joining the JIO team," Ms Alessandri said.

"I am delighted to have this opportunity to lead the UK's world-class professional intelligence analysis community."

Experienced security adviser

The JIO provides the government with warnings of threats to British interests, and "sits at the heart of the UK's assessment community", .

It supports the work of the JIC and "consists of a range of analytical staff seconded from various departments, services and disciplines".

Ms Alessandri will replace Sir Simon Gass, who has chaired the JIC since June 2019.

She has worked for the government for 35 years and is a highly experienced security adviser.

Ms Alessandri was previously deputy national security advisor and the prime minister's adviser on national resilience and security.

She held those roles from 2018 to 2020, having served under former prime ministers Theresa May and Boris Johnson.

Her time at the NIO coincided with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and its spread to Northern Ireland in early 2020.

The government said a competition will be launched shortly to appoint a replacement permanent secretary at the NIO.