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Gulf Strategy Unit

Cabinet Office written question – answered at on 19 October 2016.

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Photo of Margaret Ferrier Margaret Ferrier Shadow SNP Spokesperson (Scotland Office)

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the remit is of the Gulf Strategy Unit; when the Unit was established; how many staff the Unit is intended to employ; and what the proposed budget for the Unit is.

Photo of Roger Godsiff Roger Godsiff Labour, Birmingham, Hall Green

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding the Gulf Strategy Unit has received in each of the last 15 years.

Photo of Roger Godsiff Roger Godsiff Labour, Birmingham, Hall Green

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the Gulf Strategy Unit's remit is; and which Government Minister set that remit.

Photo of Roger Godsiff Roger Godsiff Labour, Birmingham, Hall Green

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) military and (b) civilian Government employees have been employed in the Gulf Strategy Unit in each of the last 15 years.

Photo of Ben Gummer Ben Gummer The Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Gulf Strategy Integrated Delivery Team was established in 2015.

Its remit is to coordinate the Government’s strategic approach to UK engagement with the Gulf States as set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

It employs three full-time and one part-time Government employees. One is military and three are civilian.

Administration costs were £70,004 in the 2015-16 financial year and the budget for administration costs in the 2016-17 financial year is £423,000. The 2015-16 figure reflects the fact the unit was established later in the financial year.

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  • (Citation: HC Deb, 19 October 2016, cW)

Cabinet

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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.

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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.