Cabinet Office written question – answered at on 1 September 2004.
Alistair Burt
Parliamentary Private Secretaries To Leader of the Opposition
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what representations he has received to seek Amendment to the Civil Service Management Code in order to allow an appeal process in relation to personnel matters which is independent of the Department in which the complaint arose; if he will take steps to make such an amendment; and if he will make a statement.
Douglas Alexander
Minister of State (Cabinet Office) and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Other than that received from the hon. Member no other representations have been received from hon. Members to seek Amendment to the Civil Service Management Code's rules on personal grievance appeals.
Every civil servant has a right of appeal against a management decision that affects them adversely and departments and agencies have delegated authority to determine appropriate arrangements for hearing such appeals and I am not convinced that there are any compelling reasons to change the current arrangements.
Yes0 people think so
No0 people think not
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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.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
