Treasury written statement – made at on 1 June 2009.
Angela Eagle
The Exchequer Secretary, Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee
Today the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, Mr. Watson and I have placed copies of the report on the "State of the Estate in 2008" in the Libraries of both Houses. This report, required by the Climate Change Act 2008, provides an assessment of the efficiency and sustainability of the Government's civil estate. This is the first time that Government have reported in such a comprehensive way on the performance of the estate. The report will be published on an annual basis.
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.
