Dashboard carries note on espionage agency (5)
I believe the answer is:
facia
'dashboard' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'carries note on espionage agency' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'note' could be 'fa' (fourth note in sol-fa notation: doh, ray, me...) and 'fa' is found within the answer.
'agency' could be 'cia' (CIA is an example) and 'cia' is found within the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for facia that I've seen before include "Board above a shop entrance" , "Dashboard" , "Flat surface above shop window" .)