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Last updated: 06 May 2009
Government is a large and complex organisation and so it needs formal and informal mechanisms for discussing issues, building consensus, taking decisions, resolving disputes and chasing progress.
Cabinet and Cabinet Committees are the only groups formally
empowered to take binding decisions on behalf of the Government. They
also provide a formal mechanism for the other four purposes set out in
the last paragraph.
Cabinet and Cabinet Committees consist of UK Government Ministers.
Only they – since they are accountable to Parliament – can take binding
decisions, though others may be invited to attend. Collective responsibility allows Ministers to express their views
frankly in discussion, in the expectation that they can maintain a
united front once a decision has been reached. Opinions expressed in
Cabinet and Cabinet Committees are generally non-attributable.