Features of The cabinet

Role of cabinet ministers

-Collective responsibility

-Senior ministers and heads of government departments e.g. treasury, foreign office, home office

-MP or member of the lords

modern trends in Cabinet meetings

-frequency has dropped since 1950s

-meet once a week

-predetermined agenda and fixed seating

Blair cabinet meetings

-Blair meetings were only an hour as he did most of his meetings outside of the cabinet

How cabinets shape government policy

-most important decisions are made within cabinet committees

-ministerial committees, sub committees and ad hoc committees

implementation task forces

Cameron and May tracked progress on policies which crossed departmental boundaries

Great offices of state

-Prime minister

-chancellor of the exchequer

-Foreign secretary

-home secretary

cabinet office

-provides support for the cabinet system

-calls meetings prepares agenda

-registering and ratifying decisions

pass secondary legislation

allows the ministers to re-interpret past legislation

e.g. allowed government to ban new substances in response to new information under the misuse of drugs act 1971