EXTRA-Role of Cabinet, Secretariat and Secretary Flashcards
What are the 4 roles of the Cabinet ?
- Deciding on major policy to be followed at home and abroad
- Dealing with unforeseen major problems
- Coordinating the policies of different departments
- Planning for long term
Once in government how do details of policy have to be filled in when legislating policy proposals from the parties manifesto?
they have to be filled in according to prevailing circumstances such as the financial state of the country and the advice review from key pressure groups
What did former Premier Harold Macmillan say is the main problem for governments?
“Events, dear boy, events”
What are 4 examples of unforeseen major problems?
- crisis in EU
- sudden invasion of friendly state
- fuel crisis at home
- major disease
IN order for government to function well and for policy to be successfully carried out, what does there need to be coordination of?
governmental departments
What did Tony Blair term the pulling together between departments and ministers?
“joined up government”
Who is there a natural tension between in the Cabinet?
between the Treasury representatives and spending ministers who want more money (for health, education etc)
What is arguably the key area of making policy?
planning for the long term
What makes it hard to plan for the long term in Cabinet?
ministers come and go and cabinet reshuffles can disturb this also
Who is often the work of long term planning, such as for the environment, defence and pension policy often done my?
Cabinet committees
What are Cabinet committees?
these are appointed by the PM to deal with aspects of government business. Decisions made in the committee have full Cabinet authority and may not always be taken to the whole Cabinet for discussion
Who advanced the theory of prime ministerial government in the early 1960’s?
Richard Crossman
How has the role of Cabinet diminished in the past decade?
the frequency and duration of meetings have both been reduced
Under who’s leadership was there 2 meetings per week?
Clement Attlee’s
From what year onwards has there only been one cabinet meeting per week?
1969
When are Cabinet meetings usually held?
on a Thursday morning
in the Attlee/Churchill years how many Cabinet meetings were there per year, of which most would last several hours?
100
in what decade was there only 60 meetings per year?
1970’s
How many cabinet meetings per year were there under Blair, which lasted under an hour?
40
How long did Blair’s cabinet meetings last ?
under an hour
In what year did one of Blair’s cabinet meetings only last 30 minutes?
1997
What 2 things do short cabinet meetings reflect?
1) prime ministerial style
2) that ministers are agreed on what they wish to achieve
Why were Callaghan and Major governments longer than average?
due to serious disagreements over the controversial issues in need of resolution
For the Cabinet meetings, what it the role of the Cabinet Secretariat?
to timetable meetings, circulate papers, prepare agenda set my PM, writes conclusions and retains
What does the Cabinet Secretariat comprise of?
30-40 senior civil servants
Who is the head of the Cabinet Secretariat?
the country’s top civil servant, the Cabinet Secretary
Who is the Cabinet Secretary?
the country’s top civil servant
Who is the Cabinet Sectary in daily contact with?
the PM and Cabinet members
What does the Cabinet Secretary attend? (2)
Cabinet meetings and some Cabinet committees
When can the Cabinet Secretary not attend Cabinet meetings?
when political itms are being discussed
Who did Richard Crossman say worked together to decide the Cabinet agenda and the order of the items on it?
the Cabinet Secretary and PM
Who is the Secretariat assisted by?
a Cabinet Office of 1,500 civil servants
How many civil servants are there in the Cabinet Office
1,500
What is the term ‘Cabinet Office’ now generally used to cover up?
the whole machinery that services the Cabinet and the departments
What are the 4 main tasks of the Cabinet Office?
- to support the PM as leader of government
- to support the Cabinet in its transaction of business
- to lead, support, reform and deliver programme
- to coordinate security and intelligence
From who’s PM years has the Civil Contingencies Unit existed to cope with emergencies such as terrorist activity or a fuel crisis?
Major
What can the Civil Contingencies Unit do if an occasion demands?
to transform itself into a mixed committee of ministers, officials, the military, the policy and security services, with the Home Sectary in the chair.
From an early stage as PM what was Tony Blair and his team keen to see?
a ‘dynamic centre’
From an early stage as PM, Tony Blair and his team were keen to see a dynamic centre ,what did this involve?
this involved more power for the Prime Minister’s Office which would work closely with the Cabinet Office
Who emphasised government by specialist unit which Tony Blair developed?
Major
What two units were created by Tony Blair and housed in the Cabinet Office?
- the Social Exclusion Unit
- the Performance and Innovation Unit
Why is the Cabinet Office currently headed by?
the Minister for the Cabinet Office
