Cabinet Office written statement – made at on 24 June 2009.
Angela Smith
Minister of State (Third Sector), Cabinet Office, Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Third Sector)
During 2007 delegations/authorisations were made to the Ministry of Justice, the Welsh Assembly Government and the National School of Government and in 2008, to the Government Equalities Office and the Department for Communities and Local Government.
The delegations/authorisations were made subject to the condition that recipients comply with the provisions of the civil service management code as amended from time to time. Copies of the civil service management code are available in the Library of the House and electronically at: http://beta.civilservice.gov.uk/about/work/codes/csmc/index.aspx
Any delegations/authorisations made in 2009 will be reported in spring 2010.
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.
See "placed in the library".
