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Select Committee · Constitution Committee

Revision of the Cabinet Manual

Status: Closed Opened: 25 Mar 2021 Closed: 13 Jun 2023 1 report
Inquiry scopeThe Cabinet Manual was first published in 2011 and provides authoritative guidance to ministers and officials by recording (rather than prescribing) rules and practice relating to the operation of government. The Manual is not intended to be a fixed text and is expected to adapt to legislative and constitutional developments. Since the Manual’s publication there have been significant developments in relation to Brexit, the devolution arrangements and the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Constitution Committee is exploring whether the Manual needs to be updated and what role it should play as a public facing document.

Reports

1 report

Oral evidence sessions

2 sessions

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Date Session and witnesses Source
17 May 2021 Simon Case · Cabinet Office View ↗
26 Apr 2021 The Lord O'Donnell KG GCB · Cabinet Office, The Lord Sedwill GCMG · Cabinet Office View ↗

Who gave evidence

3 witnesses

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WitnessOrganisationSessions
Simon Case · Cabinet Secretary Cabinet Office 1
The Lord O'Donnell KG GCB · former Cabinet Secretary Cabinet Office 1
The Lord Sedwill GCMG · Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service, 2018–20 Cabinet Office 1

Correspondence

5 letters

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PublishedDirectionLetter
15 Jun 2023 To committee Letter from Simon Case, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, to Baroness Drake, Chair of the Constitution Committee, and William Wragg MP, Chair of the House of Commons' Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, on the Government's work to update the Cabinet Manual (13 June 2023)
15 Jun 2023 To committee Letter from Baroness Neville-Rolfe, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, to Baroness Drake, Chair of the Constitution Committee, on the Cabinet Manual (12 June 2023)
6 Jun 2022 To committee Letter from Lord True, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, to Baroness Drake, Chair of the Constitution Committee, on the Cabinet Manual (1 June 2022)
16 May 2022 To committee Letter from Baroness Drake, Chair of the Constitution Committee, to Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Minister for the Union, on the Government Response to the Committee's report on the Revision of the Cabinet Manual (6th Report, Session 2021–22, HL Paper 34) (16 May 2022)
17 May 2021 To committee Letter from Rachel Hayward, Deputy Secretary of the New Zealand Cabinet to Baroness Taylor on the New Zealand Cabinet Manual