Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Committee Secretary?
Secretariats which manage Cabinet Committees usually divide the
responsibility for Cabinet Committee business up by Committee. The members
of staff with responsibility for a particular Committee are known as the
Committee Secretaries. They are charged with managing the correspondence or
meetings for their Committee. Any questions about a particular Committee
should be directed to the appropriate Committee Secretary.
What is the difference between a Committee Secretary and a desk officer?
Some secretariats refer to Committee Secretaries as desk officers. This is
particularly the case in some of the secretariats which have fewer
Committees where responsibility for Cabinet Committees is only a small
aspect of the posts.
What do Committee Secretaries / Desk Officers actually do?
Their role is to ensure the smooth running of the Cabinet Committees which
they are responsible for. This involves advising on which policy issues
need to be brought to their Committees for collective consideration and
then orchestrating the process by which collective agreement is reached.
Day-to-day work includes liaising with officials; commissioning briefing,
Committee papers or follow-up work from Departments; and briefing
Ministers. For more detailed information, look at the chapters on
Committee Correspondence and
Committee Meetings.
How do I find out who is the Committee Secretary for any particular
committee?
The support teams will be able to advise you or provide you with an
organigram. There are contact details on the relevant secretariat
homepages.
Who briefs the Chair?
The Chair is briefed by the relevant secretariat. They are meant to be
neutral facilitators in Committee meetings and the briefing by the
secretariats will reinforce their impartiality and highlight all the
Departmental points which will need to be addressed.
Who attends Committee meetings?
Please see the section on Attendance at
Committee Meetings.
How do I find members of Committees?
Please see the current list
of Cabinet Committees which lists members and terms of reference.
What do I need to get clearance for?
Please see the chapter on
Obtaining Policy Clearance.
Where do I get copies of minutes from?
Please see the section on
Cabcom, Cabinet Documents Officers and the Distribution of Committee
Papers.
Do all decisions made by Cabinet Committees also need to get clearance from
Cabinet?
No, the majority of decisions made by Cabinet Committees do not need to be
discussed by Cabinet. However, where a policy is particularly high profile
or controversial, Cabinet may need to be consulted. If this is the case,
the relevant secretariat will usually contact the department in question.
Do all decisions made by sub-committees need to get clearance from the full
Committee?
No, sub-committees are able to take policy decisions and give clearance.
Sub-committees tend to focus on a narrower range of issues than the full
Committee but have the authority to take decisions on these issues.
However, the full Committee will often have a wider, more senior membership
and key policy issues therefore sometimes need to be elevated to the full
Committee for discussion or correspondence copied to the full Committee
members for clearance. The relevant Committee Secretary will be able to
advise on when this is appropriate.
