Guides

The Cabinet is the pre-eminent body of government of the United Kingdom. Meetings of the full Cabinet are normally held once a week on a Thursday morning, although historically the frequency has varied.Read More

Cabinet Committees are groupings of Ministers designed to take the pressure off full Cabinet and to provide a lower-level forum for decision-making. Cabinet Committees are set up by the Prime Minister, and he or she appoints their membership.  Read More

The census for England and Wales is carried out by the Office of National Statistics every 10 years, with the aim of building a detailed snapshot of society.Read More

The Civil Service is the operational and management tool of the Government. Civil servants implement the outcomes of the policy-making process under the supervision of Government Ministers.Read More

Government consultations are sounding exercises on the possibility of a government policy or a change in policy.Read More

Executive Agencies now account for the majority of civil servants employed. Ministers set targets for Executive agencies, whose spending appears on the balance sheet of the sponsoring government department.Read More

Government spending is controlled by the Treasury, which must account for all expenditure by departments. The Comprehensive Spending Review sets a Departmental Expenditure Limit, which is the department's budget going forward.Read More

Green Papers are consultative papers on the options that the Government has determined are available to it in a certain policy area, sometimes including suggestions for legislation.Read More

The Kitchen Cabinet is the term used to refer to the advisers at Number 10 who form the so-called 'inner circle' around the Prime Minister. The term was first used to describe the coterie of political allies that formed around Harold Wilson led by the formidable Marcia Williams. Read More

Government Law Officers are Parliamentarians with a legal background appointed by the Prime Minister to give legal advice to Ministers.Read More

The Ministerial Code requires Ministers to uphold the seven principles of public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.Read More

Members of Parliament and Peers appointed by the Prime Minister to the Government are known as Ministers of the Crown. All Ministers, of whatever rank, have a Private Office of four or more civil servants assigned to him or her on appointment.Read More

Each government department has a Parliamentary Branch. The Branch is charged with managing the department's relations with the House of Commons and the House of Lords.Read More

An overview of the political exposed person regime in the UK? Who is a politically exposed person, what are the additional financial requirements they face?Read More

The leader of the largest party in the House of Commons is by convention asked by the Monarch to be Prime Minister and to form a government in a ceremony known anachronistically as the 'kissing of the hands. The Prime Minister has a wide range of direct powers.Read More

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesperson is responsible for briefing the press and broadcast journalists on most weekdays when Parliament is sitting.  Initial plans for these UK briefings to be televised, as in the US, were put on hold in early 2021. Read More

The Privy Council, as body of government, predates the Cabinet and the existence of the Prime Minister by many centuries. Originally the private council of trusted advisers surrounding the sovereign, it has evolved to become a somewhat hidden instrument of government.Read More

When a Prime Minister rearranges Ministers, dismissing some and bringing in new blood, this is known as a government reshuffle. During a major government reshuffle, it is not uncommon for between a third and a half of government posts to change hands.Read More

Special advisers are temporary civil servants, employed for the duration of an administration to provide a political dimension to the non-partisan work of the general civil service. The number of Special Advisors who later go on to become Members of Parliament is considerable. Read More