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Preparing Committee Papers

If an issue needs to be discussed in Committee, the Secretariat, on behalf of the Chair, will commission a paper setting out the issues for consideration.

With the Chair's agreement, these papers or presentations may be put to the Committee by Committee members or by the Committee Secretariat. They may be presented by Committee members or officials invited to attend the Committee on an ad hoc basis to provide particular expertise.

Preparing the paper may be the responsibility of one lead department or, if it is a cross-cutting issue, it may require contributions from a number of departments. In some instances, the Secretariat will lead on pulling this together.

The paper should:

• enable other departments to assess the implications of a proposal or a change in policy ahead of the meeting and brief their Minister accordingly; and
• enable a fully informed discussion at the meeting and improve the likelihood of a decision being reached