Work and Pensions written statement – made at on 15 May 2006.
Anne McGuire
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Major Incident Investigation Board, set up by the Health and Safety Commission to supervise the investigation into the explosion and fire at Buncefield oil storage depot, published a progress report on
Work has been under way, since before the Buncefield incident, to consider the implications of new information about major hazard sites which HSE has gathered in compliance with the Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations (COMAH). The analysis of this information does not suggest that there is an increased likelihood of an accident occurring at any of these sites. It has, however, allowed HSE to understand the risks with more precision.
The Cabinet Office had been co-ordinating the process. Information and analysis from the Buncefield investigation will be taken account of in this work, which will be the subject of consultation with stakeholders as soon as clear conclusions emerge, which is expected to be later this year.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
