Cabinet Office written question – answered at on 15 June 2026.
Mike Wood
Opposition Whip (Commons), Shadow Minister (Cabinet Office)
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 27 April 2026 to Question 125694 on Proof of Identity: Digital Technology, if he will publish the letter sent to selected households inviting them to attend; whether any types of person are not permitted to participate; and what the (a) monetary payment and (b) expenses, travel and subsistence is offered to those attending.
James Frith
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology), The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office
All members of the public over 18 were eligible to participate in the People’s Panel, with the exception of:
This follows industry standards to ensure that participants are able to have open and free discussions.
For information on involvement payment and expenses, I refer to my response in PQ 4156.
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.
The House of Commons is one of the houses of parliament. Here, elected MPs (elected by the "commons", i.e. the people) debate. In modern times, nearly all power resides in this house. In the commons are 650 MPs, as well as a speaker and three deputy speakers.
