About the Cabinet Office
Units in the Cabinet Office
Central Sponsor for Information Assurance
Role
The Central Sponsor for Information Assurance (CSIA) helps protect the nation's IT and telecommunications services. It works with partners in the public and private sectors, as well as international counterparts.
Objectives
CSIA provides a strategic direction and a central focus for all activities related to information assurance. Information assurance is the confidence that information systems will protect the information they handle and will function correctly.
Website
Central Sponsor for Information Assurance website
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Ceremonial Secretariat
Role
- To operate the Prime Minister's honours lists to make sure they reflect his priorities.
- To provide a high quality nominations service to the public.
Website
UK Honours System website [External website]
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Civil Contingencies Secretariat
Role
- To ensure the UK's resilience against disruptive challenge.
- To do this by working with others to anticipate, assess, prevent, prepare, respond and recover.
Summary management unit's aims and objectives
- To make sure that the Government can continue to function and deliver public services during a crisis. To work with departments and the wider Cabinet Office to make sure that plans and systems are in place and cover the full range of potential disruption.
- To lead the delivery of improved resilience across the government and the public sector. To support ministers in developing policy.
- To identify and assess potential and imminent disruptive challenges to the domestic UK. To build partnerships with other organisations and countries to develop and share best practice in horizon scanning and knowledge of the UK's critical networks and infrastructure.
- To improve the capability of all levels of government, the wider public sector and the private and voluntary sectors to prepare for, respond to, and manage potential challenges.
Website
UK Resilience [External website]
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Civil Service Capability Group
Role
Developing people and improving performance throughout the Civil Service.
Objectives
- To support departments to raise their capability to deliver their strategic purpose.
- To promote HR capability and effectiveness across the Civil Service.
- To promote a more effective and diverse Civil Service.
- To provide modern and efficient HR services on behalf of the Civil Service.
Website
Civil Service [External website]
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Defence and Overseas Secretariat
Role
To support the Prime Minister and the Government:
- in determining foreign and security policy
- by maintaining the readiness of the central crisis management facility.
Objectives
- To deliver Whitehall-wide foreign, security and defence and counter-terrorism policy for ministers.
- To ensure the readiness of effective crisis management arrangements.
Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat
Role
To deliver a high-quality and efficient service to support Cabinet and Cabinet committee business.
Objectives
To support the Government's policy priorities by:
- identifying cross-cutting issues that need collective consideration, and brokering agreement between departments where necessary
- providing advice to the Prime Minister and Government on policy issues
- supporting the Prime Minister and the Leader of the House of Commons in determining and managing the legislative programme.
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Emergency Planning College (EPC)
Role
EPC is the UK's largest provider of multi-agency training and development. It offers a range of learning and development opportunities, which are designed to help individuals and organisations develop the key skills and awareness they need to prepare for, respond to and manage potential disruptive challenges.
Objectives
- To deliver multi-agency doctrine and training to support UK resilience.
- To have an international reputation as the UK's national centre of excellence for emergency planning and management.
Website
Emergency Planning College [External website]
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European Secretariat
Role
- To support the Prime Minister in driving forward his European Union (EU) policy priorities.
- To coordinate EU policy across all departments at both ministerial and official level to achieve joined-up European policy-making in the UK.
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Government Chief Whip (Lords)
Role
To support the Government Whips and government business in the House of Lords.
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Government Communication Network
Role
- To provide overall strategic direction and leadership on cross–government issues.
- To integrate communication into policy.
- To set standards and advise on propriety.
- To deliver a regional media handling service to departments and agencies through the Government News Network (GNN).
- To deliver media monitoring services across government through the Media Monitoring Unit (MMU).
Website
Government Communication Network [External website]
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Histories, Openness and Records Unit
Role
- To run the Government's official history programme, enabling official historians to produce first class official histories.
- To provide a centre for expertise on all openness issues and all aspects of records management in the Cabinet Office.
Objectives
- Histories: to deliver authoritative accounts of major national events through the Government's official history programme.
- Openness: to equip Cabinet Office staff to deal with all openness issues and provide a centre of expertise for departments on operating the Data Protection Act (DPA) and the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.
- Records: to operate an effective and efficient records management system for the Cabinet Office which complies with statutory obligations.
Advisory Group on Security and Intelligence Records: The Cabinet Office interdepartmental Advisory Group on Security and Intelligence Records considers a range of issues concerning intelligence related records.
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Independent Offices
Role
To support four independent bodies whose task is to advise on and/or regulate the Government's approach to a range of appointments. These bodies are:
- the Civil Service Commissioners (OCSC)
- the House of Lords Appointment Commission (HOLAC)
- the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA)
- the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (OACOBA).
Objectives
- OCSC – to ensure that recruitment to the Civil Service is made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition in accordance with the Civil Service Order in Council 1995 and corresponding Diplomatic Service Order, and to help departments promote the Civil Service Code and to provide an independent line of appeal under it.
- HOLAC – to recommend non-party-political peers for the House of Lords and to vet all nominations for life peerages.
- OCPA – to regulate monitor, report and advise on the way ministers make appointments to the boards of public bodies.
- OACOBA – to administer the Business Appointment Rules for Crown servants and the guidelines for former ministers in order to maintain public confidence in the appointments that Crown servants and ministers take up after retirement or resignation.
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Office of the Leader of the House of Commons
Role
To support the Leader of the House of Commons and the Deputy Leader in carrying out their ministerial responsibilities.
Website
Leader of the House of Commons [External website]
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Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO)
Role
To draft the Government's Primary Legislation Programme.
Objectives
The Parliamentary Counsel Office drafts and scrutinises statutory instruments which amend primary legislation. The Parliamentary Counsel also drafts other statutory instruments and scrutinises regulatory reform orders.
Website
Parliamentary Counsel Office [External website]
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Social Exclusion Task Force
Role
To ensure that the opportunities enjoyed by the vast majority of people in the UK become available to those whose lives have been characterised by deprivation and exclusion. This will be achieved by working across Government and beyond to improve the life chances of the most disadvantaged.
Objectives
The Social Exclusion Task Force focuses on the most socially excluded – the bottom 2–3% of society – who face multiple and inter–generational problems which require joined–up solutions across several Departments. Our work follows five principles:
- Early intervention;
- Identifying ‘what works’;
- Multi–agency working;
- Personalisation, rights and responsibilities;
- Supporting achievement and managing under–performance.
Website
Social Exclusion Task Force website
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Strategy Unit
Role
To provide the Prime Minister and government departments with the ability to:
- analyse major policy issues; and
- design strategic solutions.
Objectives
- To carry out long-term strategic reviews of major policy areas.
- To carry out studies of cross-cutting policy issues.
- To work with departments to promote strategic thinking and improve policy-making.
Website
Strategy Unit website [External website]
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