Cabinet Office written statement – made at on 21 October 2022.
Chris Philp
The Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I am pleased to announce the introduction of a new level of National Security Vetting on 31 October 2022.
Level 1B will run alongside, and in due course replace, the existing Counter-Terrorism Check (CTC), and will allow access to sensitive materials, assets and locations, or proximity to public figures assessed to be at particular risk from national security threats, and will provide a strengthened level of assurance against these threats. The launch of Level 1B follows the successful launch of the Accreditation Check (Level 1A) for roles in the aviation industry on 1 January 2022.
An updated Statement of the HMG Personnel Security and National Security Vetting Policy, which details Level 1B and updates to the appeal process, will be published within the Personnel Security Controls on gov.uk. I have requested that a copy of the updated Personnel Security Controls be deposited in the libraries of both Houses in Parliament.
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.
